Checkmate
by DobbyRoxMySox
Summary: Lily needs an extra something to put on her summer internship application. James needs a way to get into Lily’s head, and show her that he’s not the immature child she thinks he is. James. Lily. Chess club. Let the games begin!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hey guys! DobbyRoxMySox here, back again with another fun and exciting LJ fic. This little brainchild poped into my head the other day while I was listening to the school announcements, (And yes, I am that much of a dork that I actually listen) and the vice principal mentioned something about Chess Club. And all of a sudden, I just had this really creepily hilarious visiosn of the Maurauders sitting in on a chess club meeting. I swear to God, it was so funny I almost laughed out loud right there! Luckily I didn't, because my slave driver Chem teacher probably would have defenistrated me, but anyways, I'm rambling..._

_So since then, this idea hasn't let me go. I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, but it's bound to be hilarious and fun, so if you're in the mood for something light and rot-your-teeth fluffy, this is probably the fic for you._

_Rating: T to be safe. I've developed quite a potty mouth lately..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or the Maurauders, or Dobby, or Norbort. I wish I did, but the sad truth of the matter is that Jo did all the work, and I'm just a lowly fanfic writer borrowing her ideas for awhile._

_So without further adu, I give you the first chapter of Checkmate..._ 

* * *

Lily Evans was pissed. Worse than that actually. She was pure livid.

It wasn't fair. It absolutely wasn't. _Why _did Petunia's fiancé have to come over _this _weekend? _Why _did he have to bring his family? And most of all _why _did that miserable piece of vermin have to sleep in _her _room? He was getting married to Petunia for crying out loud! Surely they could sleep in the same bed for a few days. He had to get used to her foghorn-worthy snores somehow.

She'd begged and pleaded with her mom but she wouldn't have any of it. 'Petunia's a good girl honey, Vernon's a good boy, they need their space. You can sleep on the coach for a few days, it won't kill you.'

She couldn't quite see what her mom was worried about. Petunia was the most stuck up prude she knew. And though Lily had already concluded that Vernon was a selfish pig, he was obviously smitten with her sister. No, nothing unchristian would have happened, but Lily's mom, ever the conservative, wasn't taking any chances.

Her parents were the absolute epitome of overprotective. Her dad was a police officer. She had witnessed him run background checks and ruthlessly interrogate all of Petunia's previous boyfriends. Most boys left his office with a slightly alarmed look on their face and with a lingering fear of balding, middle-aged men.

Her mom, on the other hand, was even worse. While she usually didn't talk much with the guys Petunia dated, she would lecture her ear off before and after every date, warning her about the danger of temptation, the minds of testosterone fueled, greedy teenaged boys, and just generally awkward terms of conversation you never wanted to discuss with your parents. _Ever_. Lily knew. She'd gotten that lecture a few times as well, even though she'd never told her parents, or so much as hinted about, her previous boyfriends. She'd learned from her older sister's mistakes.

But her parent's controlling behavior was not the worst of Lily's worries today. Nope, her next challenge was to somehow survive a dinner with the Dursley's, the most repulsive family Lily had ever had the displeasure to lay eyes on, and suffer through the night on the old, lumpy and thoroughly uncomfortable couch in the drafty living room.

Yup, Lily had plenty of reason to be in a dour mood that day. Little did she know, she wasn't the only one…

/-o0o-/

"PADFOOT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" James Potter screeched, stampeding from his bedroom at the speed of light.

He heard a door slamming downstairs and frantic footsteps across the kitchen tile. He grinned, knowing his friend, well more like mutual enemy at this point, was scared. And he had good reason to be. James bolted down the stairs at lightning speed, his face turning brick red with the effort- well actually not red, more like _blue? _

Rewind.

11:00 o'clock AM found James Potter stretched out on his bed, his face pressed into his pillow in a most demeaning manner, his hair a wild mass of tangled brambles, and his mouth emitting the most hideous snore humanly imaginable.

Yeah, not a pretty sight. The worst part? His skin was- yup you guessed it, bright blue!

Not exactly waking up in the most chipper mood, James somehow failed to see the humor in Sirius's 'hilarious' joke. He'd tried every counter-charm he could think of to get rid of the stupid pigment, but the spell, just like Sirius, was stubborn as a mule. And as one might imagine, after having woken up as a newfound honorary member of the blue man group, one might be in the mood to extract some revenge.

Oh yeah… Sirius was toast.

When he reached the kitchen, James skidded to a halt, panting slightly and panning his head back and forth in search of his target. He noticed the front door ajar and smirked. Sirius had never been one for stealth.

A moment later he was out the door, running full on towards the old oak tree in his backyard, were he could vaguely make out the silhouette of a gangly teenaged boy attempting to scurry up its branches. "I'M GOING TO AVADA YOU" He bellowed, "AND THEN I'M GOING TO CHOP YOU UP INTO TINY PIECES AND FEED YOU TO THE GIANT SQUID!"

He slowed his pace as he neared the tree. Sirius had managed to climb about two or three feet up, which, for Padfoot, was quite impressive. He'd never been one for tree climbing. Not after the cat incident anyways, but that was another story…

"AND THEN I'M GOING TO CUT THE SQUID OPEN AND SUMMON ALL YOUR PIECES FROM IT'S INTESTINES, JUST SO I CAN STICK YOU BACK TOGETHER AND HIRE A NEOCROMANCER TO BRING YOU BACK TO LIFE SO I CAN DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!" James belted with his remaining breath, at the same time scrabbling around in his back pocket in search of his wand.

He was certain he'd grabbed it off his bedside table that morning, but apparently no such luck. _Damn. _

So being the hormone crazed, Neanderthal that he was, James did the next best thing. He launched himself at the tree, grabbed Sirius's ankle and tackled him to the ground the old fashioned way.

After a short, blinded, and thoroughly one-sided scramble, James had Sirius pinned to the ground. Still panting, he looked down at his opponent, and Sirius, being the wonderful friend that he was, took one look at James' lurid blue face and promptly cracked up.

"Y-you're blue!" He spluttered out some time later, when he had managed to gulp down enough air to form a coherent sentence.

James rolled his eyes in an Evans-worthy way. "How very articulate of you, Padfoot." He said dryly.

He gave his friend a few moments more to collect himself before slapping him hard across the face. "Now fix it!" he snapped.

"Ow! Fix what?" Sirius asked, blinking dazedly as shiny stars flashed before his eyes.

"What do you think Einstein?" James growled angrily.

"I think…" Began Sirius, attempting to collect his thoughts enough to make a witty comment, "Somebody's feeling a bit off color today."

And than he promptly collapsed into a fit of laughter at the hilarity of his own pathetic joke.

James sighed and stood up slowly, surveying his maniacal friend perplexedly. He was shaking so hard with laughter he was practically vibrating the tree trunk.

However, James' already trying patience was running thin, "Oy!" He yelled, in a last dig attempt to get Sirius' attention.

When Sirius didn't respond, James took that as his cue to kick him in the gut.

"OWWW!" Sirius cried, "Prongs, what the hell was that for!?"

"For stealing my toothbrush!"

"Really?"

"No dumbass, wait… _what?!_ You stole my toothbrush!"

"I'd prefer borrowed, actually. And it was absolutely necessary. The toilet looked dirty and I didn't know where your mom kept her cleaning supplies." Padfoot replied cheekily.

James face blanched for a second, but he had more pressing matters to attend to. He'd just have to make it a point to throw the offending toothbrush in a toxic waste dump and put a dungbomb in Sirius' pillowcase.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?!" James finally cried, "And whatever it is, turn me back this instant!"

Sirius smirked, "Aw, but I think it's an improvement, you had such a pale complexion before, and this color totally brings out the tone in your eyes-"

"Padfoot," Grunted James through clenched teeth, "You can be a bloody dandy anytime you want, but right now cut the crap and turn me back."

"Haha! That rhymes. Cut the crap and turn me back!"

"Ok queerzilla, just do it." James growled.

"Sorry mate, no can do." Said Sirius flippantly.

James' only response was a death glare and a sound somewhere between a grunt and a laryngospasm.

Sirius backpedaled a bit, "I'm sure it'll fade. It'll be out of your system in a few hours tops, and then the blue will probably vanish along with it." James continued his feral glare, "Maybe…"

"_What_ exactly will be out of my system, Padfoot?" James inquired maliciously.

"Erm- well, you see," Sirius stuttered, "I might have er- _accidentally _left some dried and crushed doxy excrement's on your pillow this morning, and you might have subsequently ingested them-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up a second!" James cut Sirius off, "You mean to say, that I snuffed doxy crap?!"

Sirius bit his lip, only now realizing the horrible predicament he was in. He was sitting on the ground, backed up against a tree trunk and James was towering over him, a livid monstrosity. Quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Oh, if only he had time to appreciate the irony of it all. "That's- that's the general idea, yeah." Said Sirius nervously.

"And what exactly did you hope to accomplish from all this again?" Spat James.

Sirius couldn't help it. He snorted, "Man, if only you could hear yourself right now. You sound so much like Evans, it's not even funny."

James took another menacing step towards his friend. "I just wanted to see what would happen!" Cried Sirius quickly, sounding like a whiny child.

"So you put nasty and potentially toxic doxy shit on my pillow!"

"Well when you put it that way it sounds…"

"Selfish, childish and extremely irresponsible."

"Thanks mom." Deadpanned Sirius.

James took a deep breath, "Padfoot, c'mon. This is low even for you. Please turn me back."

In that moment Sirius decided his joke had gone on far enough, so he ditched the forlorn scared puppy look, and hopped onto his feet, slapping his friend on the back in the process, "Oh Prongsie!" He exclaimed jovially, "Do you think I'd do that to you? It's not doxy droppings, you gullible bastard, it's Zonko's Chameleon powder. I used it on my brother one time before his first date; man was he pissed. And it should start fading any minute now, it only lasts a few hours, and you slept longer than I expected you to."

James looked down at himself. Sure enough, the color wasn't quite as pronounced as he'd remembered in his bedroom mirror. For the first time that morning, he allowed a ghost of a smile to flick across his features. "Good one Padfoot." He admitted grimly, "But you'd better watch your back because I'm gonna kill you for this."

Sirius shook his head, "I know you are mate, just like you did for the stinkpellet breath mints, the trick faucet and the toothbrush incident."

James rolled his eyes. He hadn't, in fact, extracted his revenge on Sirius for any of those tricks. Yet. "Well in my defense," Said James matter-of-factly, "I didn't know about the toothbrush thing until a few minutes ago, and I've just been biding my time for the perfect circumstances."

"A.K.A, you can't think of anything." Muttered Sirius.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Sirius uttered reflexively, "Anyways, I'm glad you're a bit cheered up. That's what I was going for, today especially."

James looked confused, "Why today?"

Sirius looked him over critically, to see if he was faking it, but James seemed genuinely stumped. "You really can't remember what day it is?" Asked Sirius gently.

"No Padfoot," Said James, a bit impatient now, "What day is it?"

Sirius took a deep breath, "July 13th."

James' face fell.

/-o0o-/

Lily sat on a swing at the old park down the street, making scud marks in the dirt with the heel of her shoe. The Dursley's were scheduled to arrive in twenty minutes, but she'd wanted to get a little fresh air beforehand. The two families had decided to 'get to know each other properly', which basically meant a lot of long and boring indoor family activities during the stuffiest month of the year. Fun, fun.

She wasn't a believer in fate or small miracles. As wonderful as it would have been for an angel of mercy to swoop down from the sky and whisk her away from what promised to be a thoroughly miserable weekend, she wasn't banking on it. Which of course was why she was surprised when a speeding blur of color came zooming in from the sky and landed right in front of her astonished face.

"Jenna!" Lily exclaimed a split second later, as the figure dismounted, staggering slightly.

The tall figure propped her broomstick up against the post of the swing set, and wiped her hands on her jeans. She was indeed Jenna, Lily's roommate and good friend at school. "Hey Lils!" She said in greeting, "I hope no one saw me come in, I think I was accelerating pretty well, but who knows. It's Friday the thirteenth, the muggles are already freaked out enough about all that superstitious mumbo jumbo."

Lily laughed, "Wow, I forgot it was the thirteenth. No wonder today's been such a rotten day."

Jenna took a seat on the swing next to Lily's, flicking her long blonde air over her shoulder as she did so. "Petunia in a twist again?" She asked sympathetically.

"Yeah something like that. She's getting married." Lily groaned loudly.

Jenna gasped in fake shock, "What? To Vermin?!"

Lily nodded grimly at her assessment. Vermin was their nickname for Vernon Dursley. You had to admit, it fit quite well. "Yup, the wedding's scheduled for next summer. And his parents are coming over for dinner tonight."

Lily pantomimed slashing her throat with her index finger and gagged. Jenna giggled. "Aw c'mon Lily. It can't be that bad. I'm sure you and Mrs. Mamma Vermin will be best pals in no time."

Lily shot Jenna one of her patented death glares, but Jenna just shook her head, still smiling. "I wonder if his parents will have the same squashed pig face thing going. Is that genetics or just a really bad nose-job?"

"Oh, you're horrible!" Exclaimed Lily, but Jenna noticed she made no effort to dissuade her point. "But anyways, what are you doing here? I thought you lived on the other side of the country?"

Jenna smiled, "I'm staying in London with Koralie. Her dad's got this new gig he's promoting. Seems like he's actually found a somewhat promising one for once."

Koralie was Lily's other roommate and friend. Her dad worked in the entertainment industry, promoting up and coming new bands. However, he was notorious for choosing the most bland and pathetic artists known to wizardkind. So to say he had actually discovered a halfway decent gig, for him at least, was nothing short of a miracle.

"Cool! Who?" Asked Lily excitedly.

Jenna bit her lip, "The Weird sisters… I think at least. It's kind of a lame name in my opinion, but I've been listening in on their practice sessions and they sound pretty solid."

Lily smiled. "That's good. He needed a decent break for once."

Koralie's dad was a very charming, genial and just an all around good guy. Upon meeting him, it was impossible not to like him and root for him in his struggle against his own music illiteracy.

"But Lily, that's not the half of it." Jenna put in, leaning towards Lily excitedly, "He's got them last minute placement in this concert down in Diagon Alley this weekend, and they've got five extra tickets! Five, Lily! Five! That's Kori, Kori's folks, me, and you. Third row back, dead center, backstage passes, all the bells and whistles. So what'd ya say Lils? You'll go right?!"

Lily looked at her friend's eager face, alight with joy. She didn't want to squelch that happiness, and she certainly wanted to go with her, but she knew her slave driver mother would never allow it. Not while 'The fate of Petunia's future rested on successful dinner plans' anyways. Damn Petunia and her God-awful timing. She should have been born an only child.

Lily sighed heavily, "Merlin Jen, you have no idea how much I'd love to go with you and get away from my evil sister and my equally demonic soon-to-be-in-laws…"

Jenna's smile widened, which only made Lily's next statement all the more painful, "But I can't."

Jenna's expression flipped a full 180 degrees into a sad pout, "Why not?" She asked, sounding like a five year old who'd just been denied a trip to the sweet shop.

"My mom won't let me. She's getting entirely too serious about this whole unfortunate visit. It's like the fate of the world rests on her impeccable dinner planning skills or something. I swear, the neighbors probably think she's getting ready to have the prime minister over for dinner." Lily responded bitterly.

Jenna, like the incredibly mature person that she was, promptly stuck out her tongue at Lily's assessment. "Oh, c'mon Lily. Forget your muggle mom. All it'll take is a quick memory charm, and no one will miss you. Think about it, an entire Dursley free weekend, and you'll get to spend it with your best pals in the entire world that you've missed so much this past month…"

Lily couldn't help but laugh as Jenna finished her statement and stuck her lip out in a comical pout, which somehow made her look like a pathetic, but incredibly cute puppy dog all the same. "First," began Lily, after she finished chuckling at her friends dramatic antics, "It hasn't been a month since I've seen you, it's been three weeks. And second, no. I don't care how incredibly advanced you are at charms, you aren't pointing your wand anywhere near my mother."

"What?" Asked Jenna, feigning offense, "You don't trust my charm skills? I've been doing memory charms since second year Lily, and I haven't once screwed one up."

Lily grinned sardonically. "Oh yeah, what about Professor Vincent, he _still _clucks like a chicken every time the bell rings, now how do you explain that?"

Jenna smiled sheepishly, "That might not have been entirely inadvertent."

Lily gaped.

"He gave me a 'T' Lily! Just because I wrote my essay on the Tornadoes! And everyone knows he supports their rival, it was totally biased!" Exclaimed Jenna, attempting to justify one of her more immutable 'accidents'.

"Jenna, he's the muggle studies teacher and that essay was supposed to be on various forms of muggle transportation." Lily explained exasperatedly. "He gave you a 'T' because you rambled on about quidditch stats the whole time and didn't even mention muggles."

"Well it's not my fault I didn't hear his instructions. His class is so damn boring I fell asleep."

"Again. Because you were up all night before that TPing the prefects bathroom with Sirius."

Jenna cocked her head to the side with a faraway look on her face. "Hmmm…I forgot about that. Man, that was a great night."

She looked like she was about to elaborate, so Lily quickly cut her off, "Don't want to hear it. I was just proving my point."

Anything involving Jenna, Sirius, and a bathroom was more information than Lily ever wanted to know.

_Beep. Beep. Beeeeeep…_

Lily cussed under her breath as her watch alarm sounded. She looked at Jenna sadly. "Well that would be my cue. My immortal doom awaits."

Jenna grinned like a Cheshire cat, "Immortal doom, huh? Sounds ominous. I can't have you face that alone, now can I?"

Lily could almost see the wheels in her friend's unruly head turning.

"Not gonna happen Jenna. If my sister sees you so much as set foot in my house she's going to turn into a crazy axe murderer on the spot. After that trick with the vanity," Lily shuddered, "She's never been the same around a mirror since."

"Lily, I'm not afraid of your muggle moron of a sister. And that trick served her right, she needed to get over herself. Besides, what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't support my best mate in this time of need?"

She was laying it on thick, and she knew it too. "C'mon Lily," she continued, "If you won't let me come in, at least let me walk you back.I flew half an hour out here just to see you again, the least you could do is give me a few more minutes before you send me packing."

Lily sighed, "Geesh Jenna, you've got the guilt trip thing down better than my mother. Fine, c'mon then, but you'd better be out of here before my sister sees you."

_

* * *

_

A/N: Well, what'd you think? Like it? Hate it? Meh? I know the chapter ended kind of abruptly there, but it was getting a little too long for my liking so I decided to break it off. The next chapter is already about halfway written, so if you like this fic and think I should upload the next chap, be sure to drop me a line via the review button. And yes, I am a complete and utter shameless review-aholic. So if you're planning on sticking with this fic, get used to the guilt trips. 


	2. Dinner Surprises

_Disclaimer: The other day I woke at 5 AM up to the sound of my little brother screaming that 'Evil-pink-mutant-ninja-birds' were attacking our home. I looked outside to see that our front yard was covered with pink plastic flamingo's (Our high school marching band's doing a fundraser, don't ask). Needless to say, I was not amused. Now does Jo have pink plastic flamingo control problems? Nope, didn't think so. _

_A/N: Well, here's the next chapie! Up pretty quick, huh? Well don't get used to it. I stayed home sick today so I had nothing better to do, but as soon as I go back to school I guarentee you I'll be pretty short on free time. So just a heads up, you may have to wait awhile for my next update. _

_A/N2: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chap. I usually reply to all signed reviews, but something was going on with my computer last night and for some reaon it wouldn't let me. So sorry about that. Hopefully if anyone reviews this chapter I'll be able to reply this time. _

_A/N3: (Yeah, I know, I'll shut up soon) Just FYI, James part in this chapter is kind of strange, but just go with it. I'll explain it better in later chaps. _

* * *

Mrs. Potter hummed to herself as she set lunch down on the table. She'd been upstairs reading a book when she heard the boys yelling outside, which presumably meant that they'd be inside looking for something to shove down their bottomless pits of stomachs within fifteen minutes. Sure enough, just as she was setting down a plate stacked full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the door slammed open and in trudged a slightly bemused looking Sirius and thoroughly disgruntled (Still blue) James.

The boys silently sat down at the table and began digging into the sandwiches. "Mmm…Thwaaaanks Mrs. P," Sirius said a moment later, his mouth so stuffed with PB and J that he was finding it difficult to utter a syllable, let alone form a coherent sentence.

Mrs. Potter smiled, "You're very welcome, Sirius."

A few minutes later the sandwiches had been devoured, and both boys looked up at Mrs. Potter with expectant faces.

Chuckling, Mrs. Potter pointed to the oven, "I'm baking a pie; it should be ready in half an hour."

Sirius licked his lips and James smiled, "Thanks mom."

They got up from the table, completely disregarding their crumb flecked plates of course, and started making their way towards the living room. Before they got there however, James turned back to his mom, an impish grin plastered against his rapidly fading pastel blue features. "You're not even going to ask, are you?"

Mrs. Potter shook her head. "Honestly boys, I've given up. As long as my house is still intact by the end of the summer, I don't care, nor do I necessarily want to know about all the horrible things you do to each other."

James smirked devilishly and turned to go, but his mother called him back, "Wait James, you know what today is, don't you?"

James nodded solemnly.

"I'm going to the cemetery in an hour. You'll come with me, won't you?"

James' mouth went dry. He looked at his mom's somber face, and tried to formulate a response, but when he tried to speak all that came out was a guttural squeak. Merlin, why was it so damn hard to talk all of a sudden? What the hell was wrong with him?

Sirius, noticing his friends temporarily speechlessness, decided to take matters into his own hands. The question wasn't addressed to him, but it was quite obvious James needed him to answer it, "Of course we'll come with you Mrs. P."

Mrs. Potter gave Sirius a grateful look. "Thank you Sirius. You don't have to come, but we'd appreciate it if you did."

It seemed the decision had been made before James could even open his mouth to speak. He, Sirius and his mom were going to the cemetery to visit the late Mr. Potter. On July 13th, James' 16th birthday.

/-o0o-/

"_Jenna…"_ Was the first word Mrs. Evans uttered as she watched her daughter and guest walk through the doorway.

Instantly, Petunia's head appeared through the parlor window. Her eyes narrowed as she laid eyes on Lily's rather smug friend.

Lily sighed. Throughout their walk Jenna had '_hinted' _that she might just try a dillusionment charm, sneak into the kitchen and poison Petunia's food if she wasn't let inside. Needles to say, Lily had finally resented, mostly due to the fact that having her sister drop dead at the dinner table would most likely result in her mother turning homicidal and murdering her on the spot.

Jenna caught sight of Petunia and her face lit up with diabolical glee. "Why hello Petunia, it's so good to see you again." Said Jenna in a sugary-sweet voice, though with an undertone of malicious amusement.

Slowly, Petunia came out of the kitchen, glancing quickly between Lily, Jenna and Mrs. Evans. Seeming to decide not to address the offending person directly, Petunia turned to her mother, "Mom, what's _she _doing here. Lily knows we have company tonight, it's not polite to invite extra guests."

"_She _has a name you know." Retorted Jenna heatedly, "And _she _has ears as well. And they work. Though I doubt yours do. I said hello to you and I'm still waiting for a reply."

Petunia's features contorted into a strangled smile, and then she went back to addressing her mother, "Mom, they'll be here soon…"

Jenna fake gagged as she turned her head. Lily bit her lip to keep from smiling.

Just then the puttering of an old car engine was heard from the driveway. Instantly all four sets of eyes were directed towards the doorway, where the Dursley's were sure to appear.

There was a knock on the door, and Petunia flinched. "The back door's unlocked." She hinted blatantly.

"Glad to know it." Said Jenna cheekily, keeping her feet firmly planted where she was.

Petunia grimaced, but moved to open the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, so good to see you again!" Petunia said, a giant, fake smile plastered across her face. "And hello Vernon…" She said, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Vernon stepped through the doorway and made his way over to his fiancé. He bent his head as though to kiss her, but a loud cough was heard from the other end of the room, and instantly all sets of eyes were locked on the offending blonde.

Jenna looked up, a coy smile on her face, "Oh sorry, don't mind me, allergies you know. There's a bit too much _Vermin_ in this room for me to handle. I think I'll go into the living room for a bit. Lily?"

Lily, the only one who saw the double meaning in Jenna's comment, was more than happy to leave the room and finally let out the giggle she'd been suppressing since they walked in the door.

"Oh God Jenna, you'll be the death of me, I swear." She said, shaking her head.

Jenna smirked, "You're welcome Lily. Now c'mon! If we hurry, we can still slip some sleeping pills into their food, no spells needed. By the time they wake up you can tell them they passed out from carbon monoxide exposure or something."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I'm not feeding my mom a Zonko product that's been bouncing around in your pocket with Merlin know what for Merlin knows how long." She stated.

Jenna pouted. "Too bad, I heard they go well with tomato soup."

/-o0o-/

"…He was a good man. Whenever I needed a place to stay, he always welcomed me into his home, no questions asked. He always had a gleam in his eye and a joke under his hat. He was always up for a good prank, and never one to back down from a challenge. If I could have replaced my lousy drunk of a father, I guarantee I would have picked him. And I know my grief isn't nearly as much as the family that loved him, but I miss him. He was a good guy, he didn't deserve to go so young." Sirius finished his assessment with a bowed head, stepping aside so that James could take his place.

Sirius watched as his friend walked up to the tombstone and stood before it, his eyes welling up slightly, but his brow set, determined to say whatever it was that he'd come for.

He looked down at the ground as he spoke, but his voice resonated through the quiet and desolate landscape. "Dad…" He started, his voice tinged with just the slightest bit of trepidation, "I know we had our differences, and I wish I could have gotten around to spend more time with you while I had the chance. But I'm here now. I know I never said it enough, but I'm saying it now. I love you. And I miss you. Wherever you are now, I hope you're happy. I hope there's chicken enchilada's, cause I know how much you loved those, and I hope you know that I'm still thinking of you."

"If you could see me today dad," He said, pulling a shining badge out of his pocket, "I think you'd be proud. I know quidditch was never you're thing, but you would have been proud."

He placed his Gryffindor quidditch captain badge down on the tombstone and clasped his hands over it. Sirius observed, feeling like an intruder but unable to leave, as James began blinking rapidly, until a single tear leaked though his closed lashes.

Minutes ticked by, and both boys stood by the grave, silent, motionless. Finally, James heaved a great sigh, pocketed his badge and turned his back on his father's tomb. Without a word, both boys began making their way back towards the entrance, where Mrs. Potter was waiting to apparate them home.

As they walked Sirius came up beside James and patted him on the back. Not in the same teasing, jovial way he'd done that morning, simply companionable, supportive. "He is proud of you James." He stated, "Trust me, he is."

/-o0o-/

"So, umm Jenna? It is Jenna right?" Asked Mrs. Dursley in a sickly sweet voice.

"Yup. That's me!" Said Jenna brightly, "And you're Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. But don't waste your breath telling me your first names, I won't bother remembering them anyways."

Lily heaved a great sigh. That was the thing about Jenna; when she wanted to, she was perfectly capable of being charming and polite, but when she didn't like someone, she made it blatantly obvious. Lily should have just put her foot down when they'd first left the park. First Jenna had stalled till the Dursleys got there, then she'd 'accidentally on purpose' let them catch her on her way to sneak out the back door. And the Dursleys, of course, couldn't have the Evans' changing their plans just for them, so they insisted that Jenna stay for dinner. Needless to say, Jenna was only too happy to oblige.

And now they were all seated around the table, digging into the first course: Salad and Mrs. Evans' infamous home baked bread.

There was a rather awkward silence following Jenna's comment, in which Mrs. Dursley's fake grin faltered for a split second, but was quickly reinstated, Petunia glared, Jenna leaned back in her chair, munching a piece of bread in a perfectly relaxed manner, and everyone else looked down at their plates uncomfortably.

"So er- Vernon," Said Mrs Evans quickly, casting around for a safe topic to steer the conversation towards, "How's your sister Marge doing? I believe we met at Christmas last year, she was simply the most delightful young woman."

On the other side of the table, Lily choked on her pumpkin juice. Instantly, all sets of eyes were on her as she continued coughing, but put up a hand to divert their attention.

Of all the words that could be used to describe Vernon's sister Marge, _delightful_ certainly was not one of them. Vile, nasty and diabolical, sure. But _delightful? _Nope, not a chance.

She caught Jenna's eye from across the table and had to stifle another laugh when she winked at her.

The conversation flowed smoothly enough, without further incident for the next few minutes. Jenna eventually got bored of being ignored, so she began humming the Jeopardy song to herself. Lily shot her an apologetic smile, but everyone else simply talked over her.

When everyone had finished their salads, Lily's mother stood up and retrieved the main meal; tomato soup and stuffed turkey. Jenna licked her lips when she saw the turkey, and immediately grabbed a leg and a good chunk of meet with her bare fingers.

Six pairs of scandalized looking eyes locked on Jenna. "Mhhhwhaaaat?" She asked, her mouth stuffed full of turkey.

All three of the Dursleys looked away from Jenna as though her repulsive eating skills might be contagious, Petunia glared at her, looking like she was about to shoot laser beams through her eye-sockets, and Lily just rolled her eyes, already used to her friends rather rude table manners. Jenna had grown up in a house with five older brothers, you couldn't really blame her for her crudeness.

To say the rest of the dinner was simply uncomfortable would have been the understatement of the century. The two families made a few feeble attempts at conversation, but it was strained and awkward, so eventually everyone just gave up entirely and focused on finishing the meal. Lily could see this was going to be a fun weekend.

"So um Lily…" began Mrs. Dursley about ten minutes later, making a brave attempt at striking up another conversation, "Your mother tells me you go to a specialized private school, how is that?"

_Specialized? _Lily and Jenna's eyes locked. What the hell was that supposed to mean? "Erm…" began Lily, but it was Jenna who was the first to answer.

"Yeah, it's a private school for the arts. Lily's in the music department."

Mrs. Dursley raised an eyebrow, "So your friend goes to school with you?" She asked, pointedly addressing Lily.

Lily gulped, she wasn't a shameless liar like Jenna was, but the Dursleys still didn't know about Hogwarts, and her family preferred to keep it that way until after the wedding. "Yes. She's my roommate." Said Lily, proud of the fact that she'd managed to answer their question while being completely truthful.

However, as she observed her friend making faces into her unused spoon, she couldn't help but add the next part, "She's in the drama department."

Jenna looked up and smiled sinisterly. All too late, Lily realized she'd just given her friend a fatal opening.

"Yeah, we're doing Romeo and Juliet as the school play this year, I'm hoping to get the lead." Said Jenna.

"Well good luck with that." Stated Mrs. Dursley rather slyly.

Jenna's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I won't be needing luck. I'm an excellent actress. Aren't I Lily?"

"I'll say." Said Lily sardonically.

Jenna snorted. "Anyways, death scenes are kind of my forte," Here she put her left hand on her chest and raised her right hand in a theatrical pose, "Romeo, dearest Romeo," She spluttered in thoroughly overdramatic manner, "Thou art dead as a doorknob. Why must thou leave me so alone? Yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah. With this dagger I shall kill myself. Oh dagger, glorious death!"

She picked up a knife from the table. Instantly, everyone at the table flinched. Jenna smiled mischievously and twirled the 'dagger' between her fingers, lunging it at herself and narrowly missing her shoulder, "Ooops, missed," She said in a high-pitched bravado voice.

She lunged again, and conveniently missed, but on the third time the knife just grazed her neck and she dropped it on the ground, closing her eyes, tilting her head to the side and letting her tongue loll out of her mouth.

The room got very quiet, Jenna didn't move for quite awhile, and for one horrible moment Lily thought she might have actually hurt herself. But then she saw a ghost of a smirk flit across her friends face and Lily relaxed. Mrs. Evans, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice the change in facial expression.

"Jenna…Jenna?" She asked, leaning forward to look at her more clearly (She was sitting next to Jenna).

Jenna let Mrs. Evans fret for just a moment longer before her eyes snapped open and she let out a loud, bellowing laugh.

"Ohhh, holy Merlin! I can't believe you gullible dim-wits actually fell for that one! Geesh people, that's like the oldest trick in the book!" Jenna choked out between fits of laughter.

Lily couldn't help but giggle. Jenna was such a child sometimes. The two girls clutched their sides and laughed until they were calm enough to muster what little dignity they might salvage. When they looked up, it was to see six pairs of eyes staring at them with horrified expressions.

"What? You're looking at us like we just rose from the dead or something." Jenna observed.

The room went silent for a second, save for a light tapping on the windowpane. _Wait, what?_

Lily and Jenna turned their heads at the exact same time to lay eyes on a large barn owl with a brown paper bag, insistently tapping his beak on the window. Lily's mouth fell open in a horrified 'o', while Jenna only smiled and stood up to open the window.

_Nooooooo! _Lily's mind screamed as she watched Jenna stand up and walk the few steps towards the window.

Time seemed to slow as Jenna fingered the latch, and Lily fought desperately to come up with a reasonable way to tell her friend that letting an owl into a muggle house was NOT a good idea. She opened her mouth to speak, but her feeble warning died on her lips. The window had already opened and the owl was already inside, spiraling perilously towards the dinner table, and her mothers prized tomato soup…

_SPLAT! _

A split second later, time was no longer at a standby, and the tomato soup was no longer in the bowl. Instead, it was splattered all throughout the room, all over the silk tablecloth, the wallpaper and the rather glum looking guests. The offending owl, on the other hand, was just climbing out of the overturned bowl, shaking a few stray flecks of soup out of his feathers and looking thoroughly disgruntled. _Brilliant, _thought Lily, moping the soup off her face with a napkin, _Just bloody brilliant. _

It seemed as though matters could get no worse. The Dursleys had progressed from shock to outrage, and the Evans family (minus Lily of course) were looking about ready to murder Jenna. But of course, seeing as it was Friday the thirteenth, in a house with not only one, but two too many witches, this was not the case. Jenna mopped the soup off her own brow, picked the owl up off the table and opened her mouth to speak. And in that next statement, things went from bad to worse. No, not just bad to worst, bad to epically, horrendously, appallingly worse.

"Wow, these Zonko's owls are fast. I thought I'd have to wait till term started to get my stuff. Trick wands and dumgbombs you know? Can't go to Hogwarts without 'em."

If the Dursleys had been perplexed before, it was nothing compared to how they were feeling now. Jenna had just uttered five of the most sacred taboo words imaginable: Zonko's, owls, wand, dungbomb, and Hogwarts. And all in the same breath too. Seven mouths fell open and gaped at Jenna and the owl. The Evans's in pure horror, and the Dursleys in utter confusion.

"What the…"

"Lily, can you help me in the kitchen for a moment please?" Mrs. Evans said briskly, cutting off one of the Dursleys, Lily wasn't quite sure whom.

Mrs. Evans looked at her youngest daughter pointedly, and Lily gulped and followed her into the other room.

Lily looked at her mother shamefacedly. She knew she was about to get an earful, and figured it would help to look at least slightly mollified. Sure enough, as soon as Mrs. Evans made sure they were out of hearing range, she began her lecture. "I'm very disappointed in you Lily. You know better than to bring friends like her into this house. That girl is not only impudent, she has disgraceful table manners, and now the Dursleys think she's crazy. And that won't do. This dinner was very important to your sister. She wanted to make a good impression on her new in-laws, and you may have just spoiled our chances of ever having a decent relationship with that family."

Mrs. Evans paused for breath, and Lily debated over whether or not to argue that Jenna was not impudent, it wasn't her fault that her table manners were lousy, and it certainly wasn't her fault that her sister was keeping secrets from her future fiancé. She was about to open her mouth to say something, when a cough was heard from the opposite side of the kitchen. Both Evans's swung around to see Jenna leaning casually against the doorframe. She attempted to smile at the two soup splattered people, but it came out as more of a grimace, "First," She began, "I think before you start pointing fingers, you should know that Lily didn't invite me here, in fact, she was very adamant that I not come and ruin Petunia's dinner. The only reason I'm here, is because I invited myself over, and Lily was too good a friend to turn me away."

Mrs. Evans looked like she was about to protest, but Jenna held up a finger, which miraculously silenced her for the moment, "Second. In keeping with this theme of friendship, and since I owe Lily one, I have a proposal to help you with your dinner issues. I," She gestured to herself, "Am extremely proficient at charms. It's a natural gift, because of which I was able to get an early license to practice them outside of Hogwarts. If I wanted to, I could make the Dursleys forget this night ever happened. Or, I could place an alternate memory of a wonderful evening with family, minus me and Lily of course. The only conditions are, that you let Lily go away for the weekend to see a concert with me and some school friends, adult supervised of course, and- well actually that's all. So what do you say? Should I charm this evening to perfection and whisk your daughter away to have fun with friends, or should I let you stew in your own mess and leave Lily to mope around in this dismal place for the rest of the summer. It's your choice."

Jenna looked at Mrs. Evans eagerly, taking out her wand and twisting it between her fingers absentmindedly.

Mrs. Evans eyed Jenna suspiciously, looking torn. Glancing between her daughters eager face, and the living room, where a disaster no less horrendous than the St. Bartholomew's day massacre was unfolding, a pained expression crossed her features. Finally, she nodded.

Jenna cocked her head to one side, "Was that a yes, I think you should leave and go rot in hell kind of nod, or a yes, you and Lily are free, just please fix this minor nuclear explosion on your way out nod?"

Mrs. Evans eyes Jenna curiously, and for the first time that night, a genuine smile crossed her features. "The latter, if you please Jenna." She said finally.

Jenna let out a whoop of joy and pointed her wand towards the dining room. A shriek was soon followed. "Oh dear me!" cried Mrs. Dursley, "Violet, I'm afraid I just knocked over your soup. What a clumsy mess I am!"

And without further adu, the two girls were out the back door before they could be spotted, Lily still pondering how creepy it was that Jenna could go from the top of her mother's hit list, to cracking a joke and earning a smile.

A couple minutes later, the girls were back at the park, mounting Jenna's broomstick, when it hit her. "Oh God, I am so dead when I get back." Said Lily.

Jenna looked back at her friend and bent her knees, preparing for takeoff, "You can thank me later Lils. Right now, we're free, Diagon Alley awaits."

And then they kicked off into the air and flew off under the moonless night sky. On Friday the Thirteenth, a night of spooks and spirits, hags and ghouls, wizards and witches alike. A night of wonder and immanent possibilities. And for Lily, finally a night of freedom.

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A/N: Just one question? Does anyone know the age difference between Petunia and Lily? I'm too lazy to go hunting around in the books. It seems like they're pretty close, so as of now I'm assuming that Petunia is three years older, just for this fics sake. That would make Lily 16 and in her sixth year right now, and Petunia 19, but 20 by the time the wedding rolls around. This might not be cannon, but unless anyone tells me differently I'm just going to stick with it.


	3. Of Pillow Fights and Concussions

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A/N: Wow guys, I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last update. I did warn you guys that updates wouldn't be frequent, but I never thought it would take me two weeks to get this one short chapter done. As far as a plot goes, this chappie is just a short filler. But at least its something, right? I'm thinking I'll have one more chapter of them out of school after this, and then skip ahead to Hogwarts because this is getting way too long and boring for my liking.

_Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish it was, but it's not. _

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"Ahhh… That hits the spot." Said James, gulping down the last of his beer and slamming it down on the bar with gusto.

Him and two of his fellow Marauders had decided to hit the town after paying their respects to James' dad. They were now at a bar on the outskirts of Diagon Alley, and James was just finishing up on his third beer. What had started out as a toast to his father had turned into a night of underage drinking, ho-hum. But seriously, when had the Marauders ever been interested in the rules? They'd been undermining authority since their birth, they certainly weren't going to start being model citizens now.

Sirius, who as sitting beside James, slapped his friend on the back and slammed his own beer on the table. "Yo, bartender!" He called, "Another round for the Birthday boy, and another Shirley Temple for the wus!"

Remus, who was sitting on the other side of the table, glared. "I am most certainly _not _a wus. Full moons in a week, and you know how alcohol unsettles my stomach."

Sirius grinned, "Sure, whatever sweetie. You want a lollipop with that?"

Remus growled. James chuckled, "Hey c'mon Padfoot. Go easy on the kid. You know he doesn't get out much and he's only _fifteen_."

Sirius chuckled, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. We are so going to lord that over you for the next month Moony."

Remus only shrugged and took another dainty sip of his Shirley temple. "I don't see why it matters. I may be younger than you two, but I have more brains than the both of you put together."

Sirius held up a finger defiantly, it was probably supposed to be pointed at the ceiling, but he'd had a few drinks that night, and it was leaning more towards the back wall, "That may be so…" He began, but James interrupted him.

"Duh Moony, that's the point! You're always higher than us. Higher test scores, higher IQ, higher ambitions, higher potential… But for once a year, every year, we are higher than you…in age!"

Remus raised an eyebrow, "So?"

"So?" Said James incredulously, "So… We win, for once…"

"What? You got squeezed out of a birth canal a month before me, so now all of a sudden you win some huge contest?"

James opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly realized the absurdity of the entire situation and closed it again, instead opting to stick out his tongue like the mature sixteen-year-old boy that he now was. "Yeah well, I'm sixteen and you're still fifteen, so there!" He finished lamely.

Sirius coughed loudly, "Er you guys…"

All three boys looked up to see the giant bar tender towering over them. He raised an eyebrow at them, and gestured to a large sign with giant bold letters on the door. "Tell me boys, can you read?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Erm…" Stuttered James.

"Underage and dumb as a rock." He said, "Well then boys, I think your little party is off. You can pay me now and get out of my sight before the feds come in here an' give me trouble."

Sirius looked up at the monstrous man incredulously, "Seriously?" He asked, no pun intended, "You're kicking us out _and_ making us pay?"

The big man's only response was to crack his knuckles menacingly. Within seconds, the boys had slammed their gold on the counter, their stools were vacated, and the door was swinging closed behind them. _Damn. _

/-o0o-/

"Koralie!" Lily cried, dismounting from the broom and running towards the front door of the Leaky Cauldron pub.

"Lily!" Koralie echo'd, smiling widely.

Jenna dismounted her broom last and the three girls ran towards the center of the street squealing, hugging and jumping up and down gleefully. While Lily usually did not succumb to such girly actions as squealing and hugging, it had been over a month since she'd seen any of her school friends, and she had dearly missed them.

"I heard about your dad Kori, that's such good news!" Exclaimed Lily once the girls had quieted down.

"Isn't it?" The shorter brunette said excitedly, "I'm so glad the muggles let you come. I would have come with Jenna too, but you know how much I hate flying."

"That's ok, I had it under control." Said Jenna, tactfully coming up behind the two friends and pushing them towards the entrance to the pub, "Now c'mon. If we haven't already woken up the entire neighborhood it'll be a miracle."

They entered the pub and Koralie shrugged, "Eh, it's only ten, don't worry about it. Why'd it take you so long anyways? You didn't stop anywhere, did you?" Koralie asked, directing the last part at Jenna with a disapproving glance.

"Of course not Kori, now why would I do that?" Said Jenna sweetly.

Lily looked between her two friends suspiciously, "Am I missing something here?"

They had now reached the staircase and where beginning up to the third floor. Koralie put her hand on the railing, "Oh, it's nothing Lily. Jenna was planning on 'dropping in' on James's today and I told her not to is all."

Lily tilted her head to one side. "Why?"

She knew that Jenna and James were sort of friends. They were on the quidditch team together after all. But Jenna had always been closer to Sirius, not James. She was too busy being a supportive friend and pretending to hate his guts.

Jenna stopped climbing steps and turned to Lily, smiling, "You didn't know? It's his Birthday today."

Lily frowned. "No it isn't. His Birthday is during the school year. I remember because last year he asked me if I'd like to give him a birthday kiss to make it memorable."

Jenna rolled her eyes at her oblivious friend, "Sweetie, that was just another one of his pathetic pick-up lines. It wasn't his real Birthday."

Lily looked cross. "Damn. I would have totally dissed him if I knew that. I felt guilty so I just ignored him."

Koralie and Jenna shared a knowing glance, one which wasn't lost on Lily. "What?" She asked warily.

"You felt guilty Lily? Oh, c'mon, just admit it. You're totally into him." Said Koralie.

Lily just shook her head. This was most definitely not the first time her friends had tried to convince her that she was secretly madly in love with James Potter, and she had found it was best to just let them blow off some steam before interjecting.

"Kori's right you know." Put in Jenna, "You felt guilty for ruining his birthday, which means you care about him, which means you've noticed him, which means since you're a teenage girl with working eyes you've figured out that he's smoking hot, which means that you'd totally love to put on something sexy, handcuff yourself to his bedpost and make sweet love to- _oh why hello Mr. Grenne…_"

All three girls looked up to see Mr. Grenne, Koralie's dad who had appeared through the adjacent doorway, eyeing them with scrutiny. "Ah…. Hey dad…" Began Koralie awkwardly, "We were uh…just…"

"Showing Lily her room." Finished Jenna, "And talking about this book that we read, about this er- stuff, that we would never do…"

Mr. Grenne raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… It's this book…. Ah screw it. C'mon Lils, sorry Kori." Said Jenna, proceeding to drag Lily down the hallway, and, with one last apologetic glance, leaving Koralie stranded with her father, no doubt to endure a very awkward conversation about the ways of life.

/-o0o-/

All three Marauders staggered out of the bar, scowling fiercely. "Well that was fun…" Muttered James darkly.

Sirius shrugged, "Not one of my more brilliant ideas, I'll give you that. Next time we'll go to the Hog's Head. That guy would serve a twelve year old if they had enough gold to pay him."

"Well too late for that now." Said Remus, "Maybe we should just call it a night and head back to James' place."

Sirius looked indignant, "No way man! You only turn sixteen once, we've got to make this night one that Prongs will remember for years to come."

James came to stand next to his best mate, grinning, "I'm with Padfoot. So what'd you guys say? Should we go hit Knockturn Alley or what?"

Remus's jaw dropped, "James are you crazy?! You can't go there!"

"Why not?"

"Because… It…It's…it's just not…" Spluttered Remus.

"I think what Padfoot is trying to say is that, based on the fact that you are wearing a new designer tailored cloak, have your pockets lined with gold, and are more than slightly tipsy walking into Knockturn Alley would be just asking to get mugged. But by all means go ahead, be my guest." Sirius supplied.

James sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right. But what else can we do? It's ten already, everything in Diagon Alley's closed."

All three boys pondered this dilemma for a time as they slowly walked away from the bar. "Well…" Began Remus, "The Leaky Cauldron ought to be open. We could get some coffee or something." He said, observing as James staggered slightly on the cobblestones, "It looks like you guys are going to need it before we fly back anyways."

"Yeah sure." Said James, "Padfoot?"

"I'm in."

/-o0o-/

About half an hour later, Koralie trudged into the room that the three girls were sharing, a glum expression on her face. "Thanks for that Jen."

Jenna smirked from her position on the far bed, "You're welcome. I figured it was about time I-"

But the rest of her sentence was muffled by the impact of Koralie's pillow, as she threw it with deadly accuracy and connected with Jenna's smug face.

Jenna's jaw dropped, she looked down at the pillow on the floor, and then back up at Koralie, "Oh, this means war!"

The next thing Lily knew, she was ducking into a ball on her bed as her two best friends launched themselves at each other, and began whipping their pillows around with such force she could have sworn she heard the wind whistling in her ear as Kori's pillow narrowly missed the side of her face.

"I had to listen to a rant about sex!" Koralie screeched, "From my dad Jen, my dad! I'm so gonna kill you."

Jenna laughed, "That's nothing, you should hear my brothers at the dinner table! They make me look like a saint!" She bellowed back, bopping Koralie on the head with her pillow.

Koralie gritted her teeth and plowed into Jenna with her pillow, pushing Lily perilously toward the edge of the bed in the process. "Uh…guys…" Lily muttered anxiously, but she was ignored.

The two girls continued to wage war, and Lily continued to take most of the blows. Finally she had had enough. Slowly, she peeked her head up and raised her arms to deflect the blows. She peered over her knees and noticed a lumpy pillow lying at the head of her bed. _Bingo._

"Aiiihhhh!" She screamed, bopping both her friends one on the head.

Both girls looked confused for a moment, before they noticed Lily towering over them, lumpy pillow in hand. "Oh, it is _so_ on." Said Jenna.

Giggling, both girls converged on Lily, and all three of them collapsed into a large, giggly, squirming heap on Lily's bed. A few minutes and one busted pillow later, Lily tried to crawl away from her attackers, and with a thud landed on the floor.

"Owww…" She groaned, moving her hands to brush some dust off her jeans. However, her fingers brushed against something that most definitely wasn't a piece of lint. Craning her neck she could just make out a small black blob, on second inspection, it appeared to be an insect of some sort… maybe a…. _spider!!!_

Lily couldn't help it. She let off a small yelp. "Lily? What's wrong?" Asked Koralie, abandoning her pillow fight to peer over the edge of the bed. Yelping wasn't the sort of thing Lily usually made a habit of doing.

"Spider…" Lily whispered, her throat dry.

"What?" Asked Jenna, joining Koralie on the edge of the bed.

"Spider…On my pants…it's…Please get it off."

Jenna rolled her eyes, "Oh c'mon Lily. You have to get over this stupid fear, just flick it off."

Lily shook her head. Koralie sighed and hopped onto the ground. "Where is it Lils? I'll just give it a good whack and that'll be that."

Lily pointed to the spot on her leg. Koralie grabbed an old magazine on Lily's nightstand and rolled it up into a cylinder. Squinting her eyes in concentration, Koralie took aim, raised her right arm back and squashed the spider in one smooth stroke.

"Oww!" Cried Lily. "Kori, that hurt!"

"Well there you go Lily. All gone. You want me to kiss your boo-boo all better too?" Asked Koralie facetiously.

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed her smirking friend away. "Tell you what Kori, you can stop killing spiders for me when you hop on a broomstick and fly to the summit of Mt. Everest. Till then, you're my resident spider exterminator whether you like it or not."

Koralie pouted. But all too soon that pout was replaced by a look of devilish ingenuity. Lily recognized that look, "Oh no you don't Kori…"

Too late. Koralie and Jenna shared a knowing look, and then converged on Lily, tickling her senseless. Within seconds they had her squealing with laughter, "Kori…Jen…tha…that…tickles….stop…" She called out feebly between escaped giggles.

She tried to get up, but her friends held her down, "Oh no you don't." Said Jenna, "You're not getting off that easy, little miss takes-a-week-to-answer-our-damn-letters."

"Not…my…fault…" Spluttered Lily, "Jenna…that owl…it looked like it was on death row…Not kidding."

"Hey, don't dis Pete, he's been in my family for like a decade…though I do see your point, that owl is slower than a turtle with arthritis."

Koralie quirked an eyebrow, "You never cease to amaze me with those colorful metaphors of yours Jen, how ever do you come up with them?"

"I keep a journal under my pillow and stay up all night making up whimsical phrases to amuse you guys, that's how good a friend I am." Replied Jenna casually, ceasing to tickle Lily for only an instant while she addressed her friend. However, in that instant, Lily saw her chance and bolted.

Meanwhile…

/-o0o-/

"Was that-"

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah…" Said James, straining his ears, hoping to pick up another sound from the corridor. They'd just heard a scream coming from one of the upper floors, and he was almost 100 percent sure it was Lily's. He'd heard her voice extended to that capacity countless times before, more often than not directed at him. But this wasn't a scream of mirthless anger and ferocity, this was a scream of, dare he say it, joy?

Abandoning his coffee, he stood up swiftly and headed towards the staircase, motioning for his friends to do the same. Silently, they followed him up to the third floor landing, where the sound was more pronounced. James nonverbally motioned to the door at the far end, and all three boys crept over to it, putting their ears up to the crack.

"_Oh, it is so on…" _The boys heard Jenna's muffled voice through the crack in the doorframe.

Sirius grinned like a Cheshire cat, "Oh, there is a God and he loves me." He whispered, but James shushed him with a single fluent hand motion.

The boys strained their ears as they heard a muffled thumping noise, followed by a series of squeals and girly giggles.

"What are they doing?" Asked Remus.

His two friends raised incredulous eyebrows, "Sweaty pillow fight, impromptu make out session, who cares? This is _hot._" Said Sirius.

_Thud! _"Huh?" Asked James, straining his ears even harder.

They heard a small yelp, James was quite sure it came from Lily. "_Lily…" _Came a faint voice, they said something else that none of the boys could quite make out.

_"Pants…It's…Get it off…"_

"Did she say panties?"

"No, I'm pretty sure she said pants."

"Too bad."

"_C'mon Lils…Just flick it off…Give it a good whack…"_

James felt his jaw drop. "_Owww!"_

_"…Sorry Lils…Want me to kiss your boo-boo…"_

Sirius's eyes widened. He seemed to have misheard the last pronouncement.

"_…Ah…Jen…That tickles…Stop!"_

All three boys pushed their ears closer to the door, Sirius looked on the verge of drooling. There was some muffled laughter, and then…

"…_Turtle with arthritis…"_

"What?!" Asked James.

Sirius shook his head, "That would be Jenna."

More muffled laughter, and then some pounding footsteps. _Uh-oh. _"Go, go!" James hissed, but it was too late.

A second later James was hurriedly backing away from the door, when it swung outward and hit him square in the face. He fell to a crumpled heap on the floor and felt a large heavy object fall on top of him. Blinking groggily, he was just able to make out a thick mop of red hair, and an equally red faced girl staring down at him, before the searing, mind-numbing pain of his forehead reached him, and he promptly blacked out. And that, whether for better or for worse, was the last thing James Potter remembered of his sixteenth birthday.

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A/N: Yeah, just a random chapter there. Not supposed to be a crack-up, but I hope it put a smile on your face. Confused? Well, I finished this chapter at like one in the morning last night, I was a little confused then as well...


	4. The Crescent Scar

_A/N: Hey guys... I'm back...(Dodges Avada Kadavra Curse). Yes, I know it's been months since my last update. I could get into excuses (School, swim team, personal reasons) but I won't bore you with all the details. All you have to know is that now that swim team is winding down a little, the first semester at school is nearly over, and all the personal drama in my life is kind of fizzling out, I've suddenly found myself with free time- I know, right, I thought that was a myth- and so I've taken up this fic again. I really want to try to keep up with steady updates from now on, probably about once a week or so. No, stop rolling your eyes, I really mean it this time. Again, I'm really sorry it's been so long. I know you're probably sick of apologies, but I'm the type of girl who runs into a doorframe, gets rushed to the ER for stitches, and then apologizes profusely about ten gazillion times because she's worried she put a dent in it. So sorry. I promise if I ever drop this fic again I'll at least write an AN to let you guys know._

_A/N2: Don't worry, I'll make this quick. I just wanted to say, concerning this chapter, its going to throw you for a loop. It's short, its strange, it's confusing. You're not really supposed to understand what's going on. Hopefully you'll find it kind of intriguing, but if you think its boring or just way too bizzare that's ok too. Either way, I'd love to know what you think. _

* * *

2 o'clock AM. Everyone in the Leaky cauldron pub and Inn was asleep. Everyone that is, except for a certain red-haired witch, tossing and turning in her bed, unable to calm her racing thoughts enough to get any sleep.

Sighing, Lily turned over one last time before grudgingly opening her eyes and sitting up in bed. She could blame the lumpy mattress and musty sheets all she wanted, it wouldn't help. She knew the real reason for her insomnia. In fact, he was sleeping in a room just adjacent to hers.

James Potter. It wasn't enough that he haunted every waking moment of her life at Hogwarts, now he was intruding on her sleep too. Honestly, that boy was insufferable. He hadn't even said a word, just kind of wobbled a bit and fell on top of her, but it was enough. More than enough actually, to ensure that those memories she'd fought all summer long to suppress came racing right back to the surface, at just one glance of his panic-stricken face.

Slowly, so as not to wake her slumbering friends, Lily swung her feet onto the floor and padded across the room. She reached the door in a few strides and hesitantly put her hand to the knob. It didn't creak, though she'd expected it too. Perhaps it was still a bit sore from its encounter with Potter's unfortunately thick skull earlier on that day. That impact would send anyone out of commission for awhile.

When Lily reached the hallway, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself, as the curtains on the open window across the hall swayed in the unnaturally chill summer breeze. A slant of moonlight slivered through the gap in the curtains, briefly illuminating the room in an eerie glow, before the curtain slid back into place, and the relative darkness prevailed. It was interesting how stark the contrast was; from light to dark, seen to unseen. In the darkness, she might not have been able to make out the door to the boys room. Now however, she'd seen its relative location, and could just discern its obscure outline.

Slowly, methodically, Lily took the last few steps to the boy's room and pushed open the door. They were all sleeping, their faces blank, their breath even. James lay on the bed on the far side of the room, underneath a partially open window. Lily walked up to his bed. Her steps were not dreamlike, on the contrary, they were quite purposeful, and yet, still not entirely deliberate.

When she reached the open window, she reached up and pulled it shut. She could see James shivering in his sleep, and, oddly enough, felt something strangely like pity stirring inside her for this arrogant, egotistical teenager. _Weird…_

She stood at his bedpost then, and studied his slumbering form carefully. His forehead was creased, and his eyes were squeezed tight. Obviously, whatever he was dreaming, it wasn't pleasant.

Lily noted, with some amusement, that James' hair appeared just as wild and messy in sleep as it did during his waking hours. He also seemed to have that same pouty-puppy dog look on his face she'd come to associate with his disappointment over another failed attempt to woo her; perhaps he was dreaming about that now. About her. _Ugh… Don't want to think about that… _Thought Lily, suppressing the urge to gag. James Potter's fantasy world, not something she quite wanted to contemplate.

She'd finished studying him now. It hadn't given her peace of mind, quite the opposite really. Oh well… She had to get back to her room anyways. If she stood around in this chilly room any longer in her tank top and shorts she was sure to catch a cold.

Lily was just turning to go, when her eye caught a stray ray of moonlight dancing across the windowpane and into the room. For a moment, only a brief, fleeting moment, the moonlight caught James' skin, his hand to be exact, and Lily saw it. The thin, crescent shaped scar. On his right hand, just above his thumb. That small bit of imperfect skin tissue, that tiny, innocuous injury, that same defection that had relentlessly tormented her sleep all summer, it was still there.

She stared at the scar, she couldn't even really distinguish it now, but that made little difference. It had already been embellished in her memory forevermore. As she stared, memories raced across her mind, most particularly, his eyes. Those chestnut orbs, glazed momentarily in panic, in fear, in confusion, and then perhaps something else, something Lily could never quite place. She'd revisited the memory countless times before, and it always came down to this, his eyes.

Lily was torn between the urge to cry and punch the kid senseless. Wouldn't any other self-respecting wizard have had that thing magically removed by now? Did he _want_ to torment her?

The answer was quite simple. Of course he did. He was James Potter. That's what he did best. He wheedled and prodded, and, when all else failed, he tormented. It was just a game to him. All of it. That night had been no different. It had started as a game. It hadn't ended that way. No soirée, it certainly hadn't ended that way.

Lily shook her head. What the hell was she doing here anyways? Staring at some pitiful, God-forsaken teenage boy. That's what. This was complete, utter, resounding madness. She had to get out of here.

Screw the scar. Screw the pitiful, chestnut-colored eyes. Screw everything about that magnetic, enthralling, infuriating kid.

Screw James Potter. He wasn't worth her guilt.

That damn kid so wasn't worth sleep loss.

He wasn't even worth another minute of her time.

And yet here she was.

Standing by his bed in the middle of the night.

Damn James Potter.

Damn.

* * *

_A/N: Well, you can't say I didn't warn you... Anyways, if you have any thoughts/questions/comments just hit the little green review button and drop me a line. It's my B-day today, any reviews (not flames) would make my day;) _

_A/N2: I'm about half-way done with the next chapter, so hopefully that'll be up in the next few days. Just an FYI. _


	5. Hurricane EvansPotter

_Disclaimer: I think I forgot to do one of these last time. Sorry. Don't own HP. It's too late at night to come up with something witty. _

_A/N: Hey guys! This chapter took a little longer than expected, but honestly, a week is a lot better than last time. Just in case you've forgotten, this chapter takes place at a concert in Diagon alley. Lily and co are staying at the Leaky Cauldron, along with some unwelcome visitors. So, without further adeui, let the madness begin!_

* * *

The first thing James noticed when he awoke was that the world seemed unnaturally bright. Even through his closed lids, he could almost feel the ultra-luminous, blinding white light that threatened to burn his eyes to cinders if he so much as cracked an eyelid. Keeping his eyes screwed tight, he tentatively tried to move his head a few inches off the pillow, and immediately wished he hadn't.

At first it was just churning. Like water in a fishbowl, sloshing around merrily inside his skull. Soon however, it was as though the family cat had finally managed to swipe his paw in there, and the result was complete and utter pandemonium.

It seemed as though every molecule of his brain was suddenly in motion, spinning and zooming, bouncing off of each other and pounding the walls of his skull like a hail shower. Quickly, he brought his head back down to the pillow, but that only seemed to serve in addling his brains further.

He opened his mouth to cuss, but found his throat parched, and his lips dry; the only sound he could manage was a painful croak.

"_Ueerggh…" _Sirius heard, from his position on the bed next to his slowly waking friend.

"Morning Prongsie!" he called jovially, smirking slightly when he saw his friends face twitch in pain at the sound of his voice. _Ahhh the joys of hangovers…_

He jumped off his bed eagerly, hitting the floor with a resounding thud. The floorboards creaked loudly as he did so, and James cringed again. Humming to himself, Sirius then proceeded to circle the room, pulling up shades with a snap, and rummaging loudly through the old oak bureau, looking for what, he wasn't quite sure.

James screwed up his eyes even tighter as the light increased, and moaned slightly as he heard several loud bangs coming from the opposite side of the room. It sounded like someone was setting off a round of fireworks at his bedpost. He opened his mouth to tell them to stop, but again, the only sound that came out was a strangled squeak.

"What's that Prongs?" Asked Sirius, slamming the last drawer extra loud and taking a few bounding footsteps over towards his bed.

He glanced down at his fitful friend, who was now shaking his head back and forth slightly, moaning softly. "Well," He said finally, "I'm glad you're up. We don't have much time."

Without further adieu, he grasped James' sheets with both hands, and yanked them off swiftly. James whimpered again as he did this, but still didn't try to move. Folding his blankets up, Sirius leant over towards his friend, "Time to get up Sleeping Beauty, party starts in two hours."

It was this statement, at least, that finally got James' attention. "Pa-pa…" He spluttered.

Sirius grinned evilly, "Yeah, so what'd you say? Get up, get dressed, and let's head out! Loud music, lots of people, flashing lights, fun, huh?"

James' mouth dropped open, and he let out a loud, guttural-sounding groan. And Sirius, like the loyal, perceptive friend that he was, took this as James' wholehearted approval.

/-o0o-/

"You invited them!" Lily screeched, a few minutes later, as Jenna casually 'hinted' at the breakfast table that she might have asked the Maurauders to come to the Elder Wand Pub, the club where the Weird sisters were scheduled to play that night. They were playing in a larger concert on Sunday, but they were having something of a rehearsal tonight for the producers and a few lucky patrons.

"Calm down Lily, its no big deal. They probably won't even come. I just figured I'd throw it out there. You know, to be polite and all…"

"You? Polite?" Lily asked acidly.

Jenna pouted. "I can be very charming when I want to, Lily." She said sulkily.

"You're telling me…" Lily quipped, watching as Sirius walked down the rickety old staircase and into the pub.

"Hello Ladies," he said jovially, upon seeing them. "James just woke up. We're really looking forward to that concert tonight. So nice of you to think to invite us. You know, what with the eavesdropping and all… It was so wonderful of you to find the room in your astronomically large hearts to-"

"Sirius!" Jenna said, putting an abrupt end to his rant, "Stop being a kiss-ass, it really doesn't suit you."

Sirius just shrugged and walked over towards the breakfast cart. As soon as he was out of earshot, Lily sent one of her patented death glares at Jenna and hissed, "Probably won't come, huh?"

"Hehe…"

/-o0o-/

Ten o'clock that night found Lily and Jenna lounging at a table by one of the far walls of the club. All the bands (including the Weird Sisiters) had already played, except for one. Though the last band was having some technical difficulties, so there was really no telling when they'd finally take the stage. The Maurauders were all sitting at a table on the other side of the room, and Koralie (bless her soul) was sitting with her father and a couple big shot producers, being forced to listen to countless business proposals and enough music lingo to make her head spin. It seemed one of the producers sons had quite the crush on her, and Mr. Grene figured if she was with him during the arrangement, he'd be more willing to close the deal.

Jenna and Lily had been having quite the conversation about a new charm that Jenna was working on. She'd made it as an offensive spell to curl an opponent's nose-hair, but she was still working out a few kinks. So far, all it was managing was a few bloody noses at best, and in one bizarre instance, she'd actually conjured a fly. Though she still wasn't completely sure that the insect hadn't just flown into the man's nose of its own accord. He'd had quite impressively sized nostrils.

But their conversation had been cut short by Lily's slight detachment from the subject. And by slight detachment, Jenna meant complete obliviousness. She wasn't listening to a word that came out of her friend's mouth, instead opting to stare across the room at a certain lanky, messy black haired someone.

The first time this had happened, Jenna had just shrugged it off and continued talking. But she soon found that she was quickly losing whatever patience she'd had with her listless friend…

"God Lily, just go talk to the dillhole if its bothering you that much." Sighed Jenna exasperatedly, leaning back against her chair, sucking down the last of her lemonade.

Lily looked away from the boys at the other end of the room to glance at her friend in confusion, "Huh? Talk to who?"

"You know who." Stated Jenna, rolling her eyes in the direction of the Marauders.

Lily blinked as comprehension dawned. "What makes you think I have anything to say to him?"

Jenna sighed once again, and made a great show of slamming her empty lemonade glass down on the table. She regarded her redheaded friend warily, and Lily had a feeling she was in for one of Jenna's trademark, You're-kidding-me-right? Or-do-I-honestly-have-to-spell-this-out-to-you-word-for-word-like-a-verbatim-infomercial speeches.

As it turned out, she was not to be disappointed. "Hmmm Lily, I don't know," began Jenna, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Maybe it was the fact that you've been staring at him for… ahh… lets see, the past fifteen minutes. Or maybe, what tipped me off was your guilty little pouty-lip face… No, don't give me that look now, I know I saw it… Or maybe even it was the fact that you barely spoke a word to any of them this morning, not even to insult them. Particularly James. So honestly Lily, what's up? The imbecile spilled orange juice down his pants at breakfast, it was like the most perfect opportunity to bash the lot of them, and all you did was roll your eyes and look away. Are you feeling ok?! Should I be concerned?"

Lily chuckled humorlessly. She looked down at her feet as she answered her friend, not even trying to deny any of her finer points, "I knocked him out cold on his sixteenth birthday Jen, I'm allowed to feel guilty about it." She mumbled, shamefacedly.

"Then why don't you just go over and apologize like a normal human being, Lily?" Asked Jenna. "Would it really be the worst thing in the world to swallow your pride for a few minutes and tell him you're sorry? Or would you rather just sit here and stew in your own misery and stubbornness all night?"

"The second one sounds good." Replied Lily bitterly.

_Bang! _Lily snapped her head up quickly to see her friend bang her head against the back wall and throw her hands into the air in utter vexation. "Holy Merlin Lily!" She exclaimed dramatically, "You'll be the death of me, I swear. It's not like the moron didn't deserve it. I mean, if you ask me, people who make a habit of listening at keyholes get what's coming to them. Besides which, it's not like he's not used to it by now. He probably got knocked off his broomstick half a dozen times last year, and that's not even counting all the times he ran into the ground because he was trying to do his stupid wronski feint thing. Trust me Lily, he's fine, and even if he's not, you did him a favor. Now his count will be up before he even gets to school."

Lily didn't seem to find this little joke particularly amusing. "Whatever Jen, I don't care really. I just can't help thinking that this is probably the fifth time I've done this to him, and it makes me feel like a human wrecking ball."

Jenna cocked her head to the side, as a look of remembrance crossed over her face, "Five times, really?" she mused, "Well, I know there was that time by the lake, but he deserved that one… And then that time in transfiguration, but he was messing with your porcupine, so I'd have to say, you were perfectly justified in stuffing it in his face… And though that spill in potions was unfortunate, I can't say I don't blame you… I mean, it was just such a golden opportunity… Too bad he missed that weekend's quidditch match though, I bet he could have played anyways if he squinted really hard, his face wasn't _that _swelled up, and the boils weren't terrible… And then of course, who could forget that time on the main staircase, which again, wasn't your fault… I mean, you didn't know that pushing him don't two flights of stairs would break his nose, you were probably going for a snapped neck or something, and then there was-"

"Jenna. Please shut up." Snapped Lily through pursed lips.

"What Lils, I'm just having a nostalgic moment here, don't you wanna join me?"

"Not particularly."

Jenna bit her lip. "So, what was the fifth time anyways? I don't quite recall that one."

Lily quickly averted her eyes as a sudden flash of that night stole across her memory. It was that sudden yelp of terror he'd emitted, ripping through the air like an electric current, coursing through her bones. The sound like a wounded animal, she'd never heard anything like it come out of his mouth, to that day, and since then. She looked up slowly, and her eyes stole across the room to where the boys were sitting. She was startled to find that James wasn't paying any attention to their lively conversation. In fact, he was staring fixedly at her, almost as though he knew, right then and there, what she was thinking.

Lily felt her face blanch, as she ripped her eyes away from that table, and brought them back to settle on Jenna's calculating blue ones.

Jenna gave her the once over, and then, quite suddenly, stood. "That's it Lily." She stated firmly, clasping onto Lily's arm with a vice-like grip, "This madness has gone on long enough. We are heading over there right now, and you're going to either apologize to that loser or curse his existence. Personally, I don't care which, all I know is you're acting like a friggin martyr over here, and, quite frankly, it's really killing the mood."

/-o0o-/

"Hey dillweeds!" Jenna greeted emphatically, as she all but dragged Lily towards the Marauder table.

All three boys swung their heads around in tangent, as though pulled by an invisible trip-wire. "Jenna!" Exclaimed Sirius, perhaps a little too exuberantly.

"Padfoot." Said Jenna, inclining her head towards him in greeting, a coy smile gracing her lips. Jenna was the only person besides themselves that was allowed to call the Marauders by their nicknames. Everyone else was reserved to using measly first names, or, in Lily's case, last names, muttered in a condescending undertone.

"Hey Evans." Said James. Glibly, Lily noted.

"Hey Potter." She responded, just as nonchalantly.

A rather awkward silence ensued. Lily stood there in Jenna's tenacious grip, making sure to keep a sullen, bored looking façade upon her features. The Marauders just regarded the girls in confusion, and Jenna, for her part, stood there beaming like she was being cast for a toothpaste commercial.

"…So," Began Jenna at long last, "I think Lily has something to say to James, so we should probably give them some space. Padfoot, lets go see if we can find Koralie. Maybe she's backstage… In a broom closet or something…?"

For a moment, Sirius just regarded Jenna blankly. She rolled her eyes at him, and then shot him a small, flirtatious wink. Finally getting the hint, Sirius's eyes widened, and he mouthed a small 'o'.

"…Yeah er- lets go do that now…" He said, all but leaping to his feet, and grabbing Jenna's hand.

Jenna, however, was not quite ready to be led away. Rather forcefully, she pushed Lily into Sirius' now empty chair, and vehemently mouthed, "_Stay_."

Only then did she turn to go. However, about half a second later, she swung right back around, seeming to remember Remus's presence. She shot him a glare that plainly said, 'Get-your-butt-out-of-that-chair-and-go-away-far-far-away-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you.' But all she said was, "Moony, you should probably, ummm, go find something to do too." In a sickly-sweet, angelic-sounding voice.

In all of three minutes, Lily and James were alone. Well, as alone as you could get in a crowded room filled with partially inebriated people and amateur musicians, but there you go. It was the first time it had happened since June. So naturally, both Lily and James stared stonily at each other for the first five minutes or so, both too proud to speak.

Finally though, James could take it no longer. He'd never had much patience in life, and he certainly wasn't going to start now. "So, Jenna said you had something to say, what was it?" He asked.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Jenna lied." She said simply, leaning back against her chair in a bored sort of way.

Another minute of silence.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Watching a concert." Came her curt reply, her lips barely parting to form the words.

"That's not what I meant." James tried again.

"I know."

James swallowed a sigh of frustration. This was what drove him crazy about Lily. She was just too damn stubborn. "Ok," He said, keeping his voice even, "Since we've got that settled, is it alright if I ask you a question?"

Lily shot him a quizzical glare. "Obviously, you just did."

"No," Said James, backpedaling a bit, "I mean, if I ask you something, will you answer it?"

"Depends on the question." Lily replied vaguely.

"No it doesn't. I want a straight answer. Yes or no?"

"You want a lot."

"It's just a question." Pressed James.

Lily mulled it over, twirling an unruly strand of hair with her finger as she did. "Fine. Say I answer your question. You have to answer one of mine. Deal?"

James didn't hesitate. "Deal."

Another moment of silence. "Well?" Inquired Lily impatiently.

"Give me a minute." Said James, drumming his fingers on the table in a thoroughly annoying manner. "I'm thinking."

Lily snorted indignantly. "You didn't think of the question yet?"

"I did, I'm just trying to figure out how to phrase it."

Lily bit her lip to keep from cussing. "Just spit it out, I'm not sitting here till my hair turns gray."

"Fine." Said James in a clearly frustrated tone. He raised his gaze to meet Lily's and stated simply, "What were you doing in my room last night?"

In the next few moments, James took great pleasure in the flabbergasted expression that crossed Lily's features. Oh yes, he had known. As soon as she'd closed the window actually. The latch squeaked and it had woken him from a rather strange dream involving pancakes, hippogriffs, and a very cross-looking Professor Flitwick. He'd watched her through partially closed lids as she gave him the once over and her eyes zeroed in on his scar. That reaction had particularly intrigued him. She'd seemed almost angry about it- but no, that couldn't be right. If anything she'd be feeling guilt right now. Lily had never been one to place the blame on other people.

She was blushing, James noted. Those tiny tendrils of color creeping into her cheeks, it really was rather adorable. Not that it'd last for long. Lily was nothing if not obstinately stubborn and quick to recover appearances.

Sure enough, it only took her a few moments to collect herself enough to send an icy glare in James' direction. "I thought you were passed out cold." She said in an accusatory tone.

James couldn't resist a snide remark here. "What can I say? I'm quick on the rebound."

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "To answer your question." She said, louder and more forcefully than necessary. "I don't know what I was doing there. I must have gone temporarily insane to even set foot in that pigsty."

James chose to ignore the pigsty comment. Their room hadn't looked _too _bad that morning. Sure, they'd sent in about a cleaning crew of about ten to clean up Sirius' little orange juice/molasses/doxy powder experiment, but they did that with every room, didn't they?

"_You don't know?_"he asked incredulously, addressing her first statement.

"Thank you metronome, I think I already made that clear. Now it's my turn to ask you a question. Why did-"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Said James hurriedly, cutting across Lily's question. "'I don't know' isn't an answer. You have to give me more than that."

"No I don't." Declared Lily, "You asked me a question. I answered it truthfully. That was our agreement, so there you go."

Just one glance at Lily's set face convinced James that he wouldn't win this argument. "Fine." He mumbled. Her facial reaction had spoken volumes at any rate. That was the important thing.

"So, why haven't you gotten rid of that scar yet?" Asked Lily blatantly.

Though he'd expected it, her question caught James off guard. Slowly, he raised his right hand from under the table into the light, deliberating the question. The lantern above their table emitted a small, yellow glow. He studied the back of his hand as that yellow light danced across it, highlighting his long fingers and illuminating every imperfection, most noticeably the small, crescent shaped scar.

And suddenly, he remembered. How it felt to grasp at the air, at nothing. That cold, hard, panic, rising in his chest. And then, quite suddenly, that slender hand in his, gripping his own hand so hard it hurt, so hard it bled, and yet at the same time, holding on in sheer desperation, as though his very life hung in the balance.

Even as he sat there, with Lily glaring at him from the other end of the table, he extended his hand into the light and studied it curiously. "I don't know." He said, slowly, deliberately, firmly. He wasn't trying to be funny. "I just don't know."

/-o0o-/

"So, about that broom closet…" Said Sirius, leaning into Jenna slightly and waggling his eyebrow suggestively. They were leaning against a wall, peering through the crowd at Lily and James from the far side of the room.

Jenna sighed and shoved him off her playfully. "You're such a horndog sometimes, Sirius, honestly."

Sirius' expression was one of a disappointed puppy dog. "But you said…"

"I said what I had to to get your ass out of that chair and away from your evil twin for a few minutes." Jenna quipped.

"Oh." Said Sirius sulkily. "Well in that case. I'm going to go get something to eat. You want anything?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. _Boys. So predictable. First it's their hormones, then it's their stomach. Still takes a little while for the brain to factor into the equation. _But all she said was, "Nachos. Extra cheese." Before she gave him a little shove into the crowd and he was on his merry way.

/-o0o-/

_Ouch! _

Remus Lupin looked down from the menu over the bar to his feet, where the sound had come from. "Who's there?" He asked, feeling stupid to be talking to nothing but his ratty old sneakers.

"Me."

_Huh?_

Remus, fully perplexed now, bent down and lifted the little white tablecloth to reveal a short girl with a freckled, heart-shaped face and a mass of auburn curls. She was crouching under the bar and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. "Koralie?" he asked, hoping he'd gotten the name right.

"Hi Remus." She answered sweetly.

Slowly, Remus lowered himself onto the ground so he was face to face with her. "Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked, in a tone one might use when addressing a five year old.

"Hiding." Said Koralie. Cool as you may, completely ignoring the slightly condescending tone.

"Uh-huh…" said Remus, "From who?"

Koralie's only answer was to jerk her head slightly in the direction of a cluster of tables. "The one with the two men and the black haired kid." She supplied, at Remus's further confused expression.

"Ah." There wasn't really much else for him to say.

"Yeah, that's my dad. He's talking to some producer and his son. The music lingo was kind of getting to me, so I came over here to chill out for a little bit. It's quiet under here." Supplied Koralie. She said this all quickly, in a breezy, breathless sounding voice.

"Oh." Remus said again, feeling like a human tape recorder.

They were silent for awhile. Koralie didn't seem to notice the awkwardness of the situation, but Remus, on the other hand, was fully aware that he was kneeling on the ground in the middle of a crowded room, peering under a tablecloth at a sixteen-year-old girl hiding from her parents. "Um Remus…" Said Koralie tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"It uhhh, kind of defeats the purpose. You know, hiding and everything, if you're going to just sit there holding the tablecloth up…"

"Oh." He said, getting the hint. "Yeah, all right, I should go."

"Bye." She said brightly, as Remus quickly extricated himself from the situation.

_Girls, _he thought as he walked swiftly away from the bar, _Are so unpredictable. It's like they're from a different planet or something… Weird… _

/-o0o-/

Jenna sighed loudly. Again.

Sirius groaned. "What's wrong?" he grunted noncommittally, popping a nacho into his mouth.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"Lily." Jenna stated simply. "Is such an idiot sometimes. Every time I think she's getting close to seeing what's been right under her nose this whole time, she does something so completely stupid it makes the time you stuck your hand into a bowtruckle nest look like rocket-science. It's just so frustrating!"

She threw up her hands exasperatedly to emphasize her point. Sirius nodded, still chewing.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"It's not like James is much better." Sirius supplied after swallowing, guessing that this was supposed to be some kind of our-best-friends-are-in-love-with-each-other-and-they're-too-blind-to-see-it bonding moment, "He's always mooning over Lily, and then moaning when she turns him down, but its just because he acts like such a dick when he's around her. If he could just chill out maybe she'd see that he's actually a halfway decent guy."

"Exactly!" Exclaimed Jenna, stealing a chip from Sirius' plate while he was distracted, "And maybe if she wasn't so predisposed to hate every inch of him, she'd actually give him a chance." She took a bite from the nacho.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

Jenna swallowed her chip, still peering into the crowd. It was slightly difficult to make out her friend through the mass of bodies, but not impossible. Every once in a while the throng would shift a bit, and she'd get a good glimpse of her and James. So far they hadn't done much but sit there stiffly and glare at each other. You know, same old, same old.

She popped another chip into her mouth.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

Sirius craned his neck to see his friend. He was taller than most in the crowd, but not by much. And the weird lighting was kind of screwing with his vision. As he watched the pair, he noted that Lily and James seemed to be gradually moving closer to each other, leaning across the table until their faces were no less than a foot apart. _But wait, that couldn't be right… Could it?_

Beside him, Jenna poked him hard in the gut, "Are you seeing this?!" She exclaimed, in that bubbly, breathless voice girls use when they're excited.

"I have eyes, no need to maim me…" Sirius grunted.

At any other time Jenna would have come up with some snappy retort, but she didn't seem to be listening now. "Maybe they're finally making progress! I bet he's going to kiss her, I mean c'mon, how could he no-"

_SLAP!_

The sound, though it came from the other end of the room, reached them, reverberating in their eardrums like waves from a tsunami. They should have known it was too good to be true.

As usual, James had gotten too close, and Lily had pushed him away. Well, slapped him away if you wanted to get into technicalities.

And now there were insults. They usually started off low and harsh, and gained in volume and bizarreness as they went along. Already they were arguing loud enough to turn several heads.

"DICKHEAD!"

"PRUDE!"

"MANWHORE!"

"PRICK!"

"INSENSITIVE ARROGANT PRAT!"

"GOODY TWO-SHOES!"

"EGOTISTICAL BIGOT!"

"SELF RIGHTEOUS SPOILED BRAT!"

"We should probably go over there and do something, huh?" Interjected Jenna.

"Probably." Agreed Sirius, scooping out a handful of chips and leaning back against the wall in a thoroughly lazy manner.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"ASSHOLE!"

"DORK!"

"MORON!"

"STUCK-UP TEACHERS PET!"

"JUVENILE DELINQUENT!"

"PERFECT BLOODY PRINCESS!"

"Pass the cheese dip." Said Jenna, shoving a handful of those little salty flakes of heaven into her mouth.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"DANDY!"

"FRIGID TIGHTASS!"

"SELF-CENTERED JERK!"

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"HYPOCRITICAL TOOL!"

"WOMANIZING SLEAZE!"

"CRAZY BITCH!"

"NARCISSISTIC EGOMANIAC!"

"What's narcissistic mean?" Asked Sirius, gulping down another couple chips.

"Beats me." Jenna shrugged and stole another handful.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. _

"INSUFFERABLE KNOW-IT-ALL!"

"MATERIALISTIC PHILISTINE!"

"WALKING DICTIONARY!"

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"JACKASS!"

"FRIGGIN NUN!"

"BLOODY WANKER!"

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"STUBBORN RED-HEADED PARISITE!"

"SEXUALLY CONFUSED DRY-HUMPING RABBIT!"

"Oh, I love this part." Said Jenna between mouthfuls. With Lily and James, there was always this time (Usually just before the argument blew over) where they couldn't for the life of them come up with any decent insults, so they'd just think of something random and mildly offensive and throw it out there, hoping to strike a nerve.

"UGLY WRINKLED STERILE SPINSTER!"

"SLYTHERIN FOOT FUNGUS!"

"NUCLEAR EXPLOSION IN A PONYTAIL!"

"HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL SNACK!"

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"PERPETUAL BAD HAIR DAY!"

"WALKING KICK ME SIGN!"

"SHRIMP SUSHI!"

"_WHAT?!?"_

And then there was silence. All throughout the room. It seemed as though the entire club was waiting with bated breath for the next insult to arrive. Jenna glanced sideways at Sirius with a 'wtf' expression. Sirius just shrugged and grabbed another chip.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

/-o0o-/

"Shrimp Sushi?!?" Exclaimed Lily, "What the hell kind of an insult is that?!?"

James, who was now standing at full height, glaring down at Lily, blinked twice and shrugged. "I dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!"

Both teenagers looked up to see Sirius bounding over towards them, sliding through throngs of startled looking people, a rather smug smile adorned upon his face.

"Nice one Padfoot!" James congratulated, giving his friend a high-five as he neared the table.

"Geesh, and you think girls are into cliché's… and that one didn't even make sense…" Said Jenna, sidling through the crowd and over towards the now upturned table.

"Sirius, Jenna…" Stuttered Lily, clearly flustered.

"Hey Lils!" said Jenna cheerily, "We just figured, you know, since hurricane Potter-Evans has passed, we'd come over and say hello."

A moment of silence. "So, uhhh, hi." Muttered Jenna, chewing her lip as only now the entire ludicrousness of the situation began to sink in.

The entire club was gawking at the four of them, well, more like staring openmouthed in horror, and the security guards by the door seemed to be inching their way over…

_Yup, this is as good as it gets._ Thought Jenna, _This night couldn't possibly get any more awkward._

And then, of course, it did.

"Uhhh, you guys…"

It was Remus. "Yeah," Jenna answered distractedly.

"Koralie's hiding under a table."

"Of course she is."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it Moony. She's super claustrophobic. And we've got bigger problems."

That they did. Standing before the five teenagers were five significantly taller, larger, fierce looking adult wizards. All with their arms crossed and their faces set, like something off a James Bond movie. "Kids," The first one said, in a loud, authoritative tone, "I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the premises."

_Uh-oh…_

/-o0o-/

"_Honestly_ Potter," Someone said in a sarcastic, bossy sort of voice, "You can't even go to a concert without getting us kicked out!"

"_I _got us kicked out! I seem to recall you screaming at the top of your lungs as well… and you started it!" Answered another, in a voice sounding like a whiny child.

"I did not!"

"You slapped me!"

"You tried to kiss me!"

"Well excuse me! I didn't know showing affection merits the use of violence these days!"

"Oh, get over yourself! You're such a bloody pansy sometimes!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!-"

"Oh boy, here we go again." Said Jenna, clutching her head in her hands as another headache threatened to arise.

The six of them (Koralie, Jenna, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and James) were walking back to the Leaky Cauldron. They'd been kicked out rather gracelessly, and left to make their own way through the dark streets of London and towards the Inn. Thankfully, Koralie's dad had been too wrapped up with his dealings to notice the uproar, and had swallowed his daughter's lies easily when she told him they were heading home early. Not that that made the predicament they were in right about now any better. Lily might be a sensible person normally, but once she'd been around James for a certain amount of time, no amount of logic could persuade the two of them to back down. They were like vinegar and baking soda. Put them together, and there's nothing to do but wait for the resulting mixture to bubble over.

"-I can't believe you! You're impossible!"

"I'm impossible?! At least I wasn't the one screaming about shrimp and raw fish like it meant something!-"

"Jen…" Said Koralie, who was walking beside Jenna.

"Hmmm?"

"If they ever get married," She said, "Remind me to shoot myself."

"Will do."

"-_I_ flipped the table over!? You flipped the table over!"

"Did not! You did when you stood up, it almost impaled me!"

"Too bad it didn't!-"

"Don't worry," Said Sirius, who was walking on Jenna's other side, also looking quite worn, "The only way those two could ever possibly get together would be if Lily fell off a cliff, hit her head, and forgot she absolutely loathed James with a passion. And even then, they'd probably be at each others throats again by the end of the week."

"-Well it's not my bloody fault you were eavesdropping on us! If you'd just been tucked into bed, sucking your thumb and hugging your teddy like you belonged, then this would have never happened!"

"Well _sorry, _you idiots were making so much noise up there I thought you were in trouble! I was trying to help!"

"By standing there, giggling at the doorknob, I don't think so!-"

"Trust me," Said Remus, finally putting his two cents in, "By the time those two finally put aside their differences and petty little arguments, they'll both be long deaf."

"-Fine then! Next time I give you a concussion, and trust me, they'll be a next time, you won't find me sitting there, weeping over your bloody bed sheets!"

"Fine!"

"_Fine!"_

"FINE!"

And then there was silence.

* * *

_A/N: Well, I don't have much to say about that last chap. If I lost you somewhere along the way, well, sorry about that. In case you haven't noticed I am a very random person, and, for better or for worse, that seems to translate into a lot of my fics. Hopefully you find it amusing though._

_A/N2: Just as a side note, that was the last chapter in my wierd exposition-type beginning thingy. Next chap I'm skipping ahead to Hogwarts, because, quite honestly, Diagon Alley is getting boring. I'm sure you agree with me. So, to anyone who's endured this fic so far, I just want to say thanks for plodding on through. Hopefully that last chapter wasn't too painful. Next chap I'll be getting more into the actual plot of the story, so for the first time this fic might actually somewhat resemble its summary. _


	6. Of Mud Puddles and Stalkers

_A/N: Hehe. Hey guys... Miss me? (Dodges Avada Kadavra curse) Guess not... _

_Anywho, I'm back. I'm a dirty rotten liar who's too lazy to update her stories more than once a month it seems, but I'm back with another update to this wild fic. This next chapter jumps ahead to a week after the start of term, and Lily and James both recieve letters for career advice. And yes, I know career advice is supposed to be in fifth year and they're in sixth, but just bear with me here, ok? I couldn't really think of any other way to do this. Also, this chapter is basically all about moving the plot foreward. I tried to make it as entertaining as possible along the way, but basically I just had to introduce a couple key characters, and plant the seeds for Lily's big chess club fiasco. It might get a little bit dry at times, but just try to bear it. I guarentee the next chapter will be a lot more interesting, seeing as the entire thing is going to focus on Lily and James and not all my anoying OC's. Actually, I love my OC's, which is why I spend so much time on them, but you guys probably get annoyed with them. Oh well, I'm writing this as much for myself as I am for you guys, so there!_

* * *

_**Last Chapter:**_

_**"-Fine then! Next time I give you a concussion, and trust me, they'll be a next time, you won't find me sitting there, weeping over your bloody bed sheets!"**_

_**"Fine!"**_

**_"_Fine!_"_**

_**"FINE!"**_

"Fine…" Lily groaned, rising from the little wooden stool to go rummage around in the closet beside James' bed.

"It's not in here…" She mumbled, shifting through several odds and ends ranging from half-eaten boxes of chocolate to broken picture frames and dusty flower vases.

"It's gotta be." Said James insistently, "Check under the firecrackers."

"The _what?!_"

"Just do it."

Lily sighed and did as she was told. True to his word, there it was. A small marble chess set, barely visible under all the debris in the closet. Quickly, she bent to retrieve it, grimacing as she did. She was all too aware in that moment how stupid she'd been to wear tight jeans today, Potter was undoubtedly getting a great view of her ass.

"Alright, where should I put it?" Lily asked as she straightened up, rolling her eyes at the disappointed look that flashed across Potter's features as she did so.

"Er-" Said Potter.

It was obvious he hadn't given much thought to the predicament he was currently in.

To put things simply. James was in the Hospital wing with a concussion. Lily was standing by his bedside with a chess set, deliberating where on earth to put the thing. How did they get there? Well, that's another story entirely.

/-o0o-/

_Two hours earlier…_

Koralie and Lily were walking from the library back to the Gryffindor common room.

"All I'm saying," Lily said to her friend Koralie, "Is that it wouldn't hurt to put yourself out there once in a while. You are so much prettier than you give yourself credit for."

"Ummm-hmmm…" Koralie replied, in a tone one uses when listening to something she's heard countless times before, "So what exactly are you suggesting? That I start dressing like Jenna on laundry day?"

Lily giggled. Twice a month, the house elves came around and picked up the dirty laundry from the dormitories. Jenna made sure to use each and every one of these so called 'laundry days' to dress in her most extravagant and occasionally rather slutty clothes with a good excuse. It was a source of constant teasing among the three of them, though, oddly enough, Jenna never seemed to mind. "Nothing quite so drastic." She replied.

"So what-"

"Lily!"

Both girls swung their heads around in tangent to see a tall boy with curly black hair striding over towards them. Koralie just stared at him blankly while Lily's face broke into a huge grin. "Darien!" She exclaimed, rushing towards him.

When they reached each other, Lily instinctively wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him. Darien seemed quite surprised by this unexpected action, in fact, he pretty much just stood there, stiff as a statue the whole time, his eyes widening in shock and his arms hanging limply by his sides.

Koralie had to suppress giggles at the sight of this awkward interaction. She didn't know this guy, but she could guess he wasn't really the touchy-feely type.

"How are you?! I haven't seen you in so long!" Lily exclaimed giddily as she finally let go, much to the taller boys obvious relief, "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot you didn't do hugs."

"It's ok." The tall boy said, shrugging his shoulders a little too quickly, so that it appeared as though he'd been shocked by an electric current or something.

"Here," he said, fumbling around inside his robe until he'd grasped something, and then thrusting his hand out like a spring trap towards Lily.

Smiling, she reached out and took the object. It was a letter.

They began walking towards the main staircase as Lily ripped open the seal and read the short letter.

"So," began Koralie, awkwardly attempting to strike up a conversation while Lily's attention was elsewhere, "You know Lily. How-"

"Prefect duty." Darien said simply.

_Of course he'd be a prefect. _Though Koralie. He fit the type perfectly. Large, bulky school bag. Slightly oily face. Spiffy clean robes. Clueless, awkward demeanor. No wonder Lily liked him so much.

"Ugh…" Lily sighed, putting an end to their attempts at small talk. "Career advice."

"What time?" Asked Kori, only half-interested.

"In half an hour." Lily groaned. "I haven't a clue what I'm going to tell Mcgonagall. I haven't even begun to look through those stupid brochures they handed out last week."

"I never found those particularly helpful anyways." Said Darien, putting his two cents in, "They spend too much time attempting to market and distribute them with catchy slogans and witty zingers that there's not enough room left for an kind of quality information. You'd be better off using them as kindle to light your potion burner."

Lily looked up at Darien with an odd look upon her face. "Did you just make a joke, Dari?" She asked fondly.

"No. I merely made a comparison between two uses of a superfluous item meant to highlight the uselessness of said item." Darien stammered, looking uncomfortable. "I don't quite see the humor in that."

"Ok." Said Lily, barely suppressing a smile. "Whatever you say Darien. Whatever you say…"

Darien didn't respond to that, he just gave her an odd look. Suddenly though, Lily's face lit up, as she remembered something.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you two. Koralie, this is Darien. We did patrols together last year. Darien, this is my friend Koralie."

"Nice to meet you." Said Darien politely, like they'd only just met and hadn't been walking together for about five minutes now.

"You too." Koralie mumbled, scrutinizing the kid. There was something familiar about him. He wasn't exactly the type of person she would remember in passing, but still, there was something about him that she distinctly thought she recognized.

"So, Darien, how'd that internship at St. Mungo's go?" Asked Lily, pocketing the letter with a scowl.

The group began ascending the staircase, walking slowly to stay in tandem. "It was a very enlightening and beneficial experience." Darien replied, "I highly recommend you apply for a position this year."

Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb went off in Kori's head. "I knew you looked familiar!" She exclaimed, "You were the one who detangled that flying cactus from my cousin's hair this summer! It kept shooting needles at you every time you came over with the saw, I'm glad those cuts healed by the way, I was kind of worried they'd have some kind of dark magical properties."

Darien seemed to be suppressing a grimace. "They took weeks to heal actually, I had to use bobotuber salve to clear them up."

Koralie frowned. "I'm sorry about that. Cassie appreciated it though."

Lily watched the two of them with a confused expression. "I'm not even going to ask." She said dryly.

"Ask what?" Darien said, missing the sarcasm.

"Never mind Dari."

They continued walking together until they reached the seventh floor and parted ways to their respective common rooms. Darien to Ravenclaw tower, Koralie and Lily to Gryffindor.

"Well Darien seemed…" Koralie said, trailing off when she couldn't really think of a word fit to describe him.

"He's just very literal." Lily said, "The more you get to know him though, the more he grows on you."

"I'm sure he does." Said Koralie, though in a tone that suggested she wasn't so sure.

They reached the portrait hole, told the fat lady the password, (salmon tofu, don't ask) and climbed through to the common room.

Seeing as it was a Saturday afternoon, the common room was mostly clear. Just a few second years lingering by the fire and another kid reading a book in the corner. Koralie disappeared upstairs to drop off her homework, and Lily sat down at a large table on the far side of the room. She dug into her bag and grabbed a handful of career brochures. Sighing; she set to work at the arduous task of actually reading the colorful words and spiffy titles. Fire kindling indeed…

/-o0o-/

"Ok, so then she says, I wouldn't go out with you if the God of acne cursed the earth and you were the only guy left on the planet without a zit the size of a golf ball on his forehead. Honestly mate, where does she get these? I mean, I know she shares a dorm with Jenna and all, but a zit the size of a golf ball? Now that's just sending mixed signals." James prattled on to his best friend as they left the Gryffindor locker room together.

They started on a small path through the woods that would lead them back to the castle. Sirius shrugged, "Dunno. It seems pretty clear to me. Classic Lily insult anyways, dash your hope quickly, then kick you while you're down. But don't worry mate, if the God of acne does decide to forsake the male population of Hogwarts, we could totally roll with that. You know, say it was a quidditch accident or something, the chicks will be throwing themselves at us in no time."

James chuckled softly, and then continued rambling on, "And it's not like she ever lets me get a word in edgewise anyways," He whined, "All she ever does is let me ask her out- sometimes she doesn't even let me finish, and then she makes her witty retort, turns on her heel and storms out. Every single time man, I'm not kidding. She's got it down to a science. Could probably even teach a class about it- Seminar on Witty Ways to Diss James Potter. I swear to Merlin, that girl is diabolical. She drives me insane. I don't even like _thinking_ about her!"

"Which is precisely why you never shut up about her." Sirius muttered sardonically.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Continue on with your fascinating rant." Sighed Sirius.

"Ok." Said James obliviously, "And then even when she does stick around for a little while after turning me down, she still never misses an opportunity to insult me. You know, I bet she even keeps track of how many times she's burned me. It's all a game to her. All of it. She never takes me seriously, even when I am being serious. Sorry buddy, no pun intended. But seriously, she's just…"

Sirius chose that point to stop listening. James's 'Odes to Lily' as the Marauder gang fondly referred to them, were always extremely long winded and usually comprised of the same basic points. Namely, 'Lily turned me down, _again_… Poor me… I can't believe she doesn't want me… God, she's such a bitch… I hate her, I think we should prank her… Hey, I just got a fantastic idea for a new pick up line! Lily'll have to say yes this time… 565th times the charm, right?… Geesh, I can't believe she turned me down, _again…_' Repeat cycle.

And no, Sirius was not a horrible person for tuning out his lovesick friend. He knew from experience that logic and his own personal opinions had no place in James's rants anyways. The best, and safest, thing to do was just nod and smile. So that's exactly what he did.

He was still nodding and smiling, when he noticed a scrawny, sandy-haired kid heading down the path towards them. He watched curiously as the kid caught sight of the two of them, and began scampering down the hillside to meet them. He had to admire the kid's enthusiasm, but it seemed to Sirius like he was running a bit too fast down that steep hill…

Unfortunately, for the sandy-haired kid at least, Sirius was right. Fortunately though, by the time he'd realized he'd lost control and was about to run head long into a tree trunk, a saving grace presented itself. In the form of a large mud puddle.

What followed could have easily been a particularly hilarious scene out a muggle cartoon. It was that ridiculous.

The instant the kids feet hit the puddle, his legs slid out from under him, and he plummeted. In the brief moment before his body hit the ground, he was suspended in the air, his mouth open and his eyes wide, his face clearly permeating his surprise and _holy-shit-I'm-gonna-die_ mentality.

He looked like one of those indestructible cartoon characters that are always walking off cliffs or buildings, with that expression they get when they're about to plummet fifty feet to the ground. Just like that. Till gravity intervened anyways, and he crashed into the mud.

_SPLAT!_

For a skinny kid, he sure sent that mud flying. He must have skidded at least six feet before he finally came to a stop. And in that time, he had plenty of opportunity to spend mud splaying in all directions, and completely cover himself in that good old brown n' mucky substance.

Both mercifully mud-free boys watched as the kid groaned and began staggering to his feet. He didn't appear to be hurt, but his pride had certainly taken a pretty good bruising.

Sirius watched the boy struggle to his feet with an odd mixture of feelings. On the one hand, what he just witnessed was by far the most hilarious thing he'd seen all week, and that was certainly saying something. On the other, he felt quite a bit of pity for the poor kid, and sort of thought his pride had been tarnished enough by the avalanche of mud he was currently covered in.

James however, held no such qualms. It took him all of five seconds to double over in laughter.

And of course, after James started laughing, it was only a matter of time before the infectious sound caught, and Sirius joined his friend doing what the Marauders did best, humiliating.

Hearing their laughter, echoing throughout the clearing like Hell's Bells on Judgment day, the kid hopped out of the mud hastily, and took a small manila envelope out of his pocket. Looking at it with disgust, he threw it into the mud puddle, and even trampled it a bit for good measure. Then, looking for all the world like his face was going to explode into a fiery ball of humiliation, he turned on his heel and fled the way he'd come.

Of course, neither of the Marauders noticed any of this. They were too busy laughing their asses off at the poor, mud-covered kid's expense.

Later, James would look at his mud-flecked robes and feel a pang of remorse for the poor kid, now he felt no such thing.

/-o0o-/

"So you want to be a healer? That's an admirable choice." Said Professor Mcgonagall, leaning over her desk and scrutinizing Lily like a lab rat, "I think you'd make an excellent healer Ms. Evans, and you're already taking every class required plus some, so there's really no problems."

Lily smiled nervously, "Thanks Professor. I also wanted to ask you something. It's about this internship program my friend Darien did this summer-"

"Darien O'Konell?" Professor Mcgonagall asked.

"Yeah," Said Lily, "Do you know it?"

"Certainly." Said Professor Mcgonagall, "You're referring to MAIIAASMM, am I correct?"

"Huh?" Lily asked blankly.

"St. Mungo's Annual International Internship Award to further Advanced Studies in Medical Magics." Said Professor Mcgonagall matter-of-factly.

The confused look stayed plastered to Lily's face.

"…Hence the acronym."

"Er- yeah," Said Lily uncertainly, "I was wondering if you thought I should apply for that for this summer?"

Professor Mcgonagall pursed her lips. _Uh-oh,_ _not a good sign._ "Well Lily," She said, after deliberating for a moment, "I would definitely urge you to go for it, but keep in mind that this is an international contest, which means top notch grades and teacher recommendations might not be enough to get you considered. St. Mungo's is a highly respectable worldwide institution; they'll be countless young witches and wizards submitting applications from all over the country. Darien got in because he has a genius IQ, and I'm not saying you're not smart Lily, because you are quite bright actually, but since you're not a genius you're going to need something a little extras to beef up your application. I'd suggest a few extracurricular activities, at the very least."

Lily bit her lip. "I'm a prefect, that counts as an extracurricular, right?"

"Yes, it does." Mcgonagall agreed, "But I'd recommend something even further."

"Like what?" Asked Lily.

Professor Mcgonagall sighed, "Truth be told Lily, our school doesn't offer much in the way of extracurriculars, besides Quidditch at any rate. We have tutoring, but you already do that, right?"

Lily nodded.

"…Over the years our after school activities have dwindled due to lack of interest. I'm afraid if you wanted to join anything you'd have to start it yourself. Which I would highly recommend you do, our school could use a few more clubs to keep the kids out of trouble."

Lily looked down at her clasped hands, considering. "Say I did want to do that, Professor?" She asked hesitantly, "What would I have to do?"

Professor Mcgonagall smiled widely. "Tell you what Lily, if you come up with an idea for a club, and manage to put together a roster of members, I'll do the rest as far as registration and technicalities. I'll even write you a complimentary recommendation when you apply for the internship in April. So what do you say? I'll give you a list of old club's to consider re-founding, just to get you started."

She started digging around in her desk drawers, and after a few moments of frantic searching, produced an old, frayed, scrap of paper. "I used to be the extracurricular student advisor," She said sadly, handing the list over to Lily.

Lily took the paper and scanned it. It contained a long list of clubs and activity's, almost all of which had been crossed or scribbled out. She could only still make out a few of the names:

_Gobstones (X'ed out) _

_Magical Herbs and Gardening (Slashed out)_

_Wizard Card Trading Club (Scribbled out)_

_Chamber Toad-aided Choir (Vehemently crossed out)_

It was sad, really. And suddenly, looking at this forlorn scrap of paper, and then back up at Professor Mcgonagall's hopeful face, Lily wanted nothing more but to do something about it. "Yeah, I'll do it." Lily said, feeling as though a foreign creature had taken residence in her brain and spoken for her.

Professor Mcgonagall smiled widely.

/-o0o-/

_What did I do? Holy Merlin, what did I do? _Lily thought despairingly as she closed the door to Professor Mcgonagall's office, clutching that pathetic club list to her chest and feeling about ready to puke. Professor Mcgonagall's evil grin followed her as she hurried down the hallway and ran smack dab into- yep, you guessed it- none other than James Potter.

This day was just getting better and better.

"Woah… Hey Lils." He said, raising his hands so Lily could see that it was her own fault for walking into him, not his, but still making no effort to back up.

"Don't call me Lils." Lily said icily, attempting to walk around him.

He stepped to the side exactly as Lily did. It might have been a coincidence, but Lily tended to think not.

Lily took a step to the right. James followed. Yep, definitely not a coincidence.

"Get out of my way Potter," Lily muttered threateningly, severely frustrated now.

She took a step to the left. Potter followed.

"I'm serious, get out of here if you value all your limbs intact!"

James sniggered and took another step to block Lily's passage.

"What's funny about that!?" Said Lily, exasperated. She drew her wand and pointed it threateningly at James. "What? Do you want me to threaten to castrate you!? Will that make you back the hell off and let me get back to what I was doing?"

The smirk promptly fell off of James face. "What _were_ you doing?" He asked soberly.

"None of your business."

Side step. Blocked. Repeat.

" I was just going to talk to Professor Mcgonagall," James said, holding up a mud flecked envelope, "But I've still got a little bit of time before I'm officially late. You want to talk? You look really stressed out right now."

"Probably," Lily said dryly, "Because some dillhole is blocking my path, and I really need to get to the dungeon to add a few ingredients to my Calming Draught before it dissolves! So please, just _move!_"

Finally, James conceded. Lily took off down the hallway at a furious pace. James followed.

"You sure you don't want to talk!" He called after her wistfully.

Lily didn't feel the need to dignify this with a response. The first five times at any rate.

By the time James had asked six times, and they were just entering the dungeons, Lily had finally had enough. She turned around and spat, "Yeah Potter, because talking worked _so_ well the last time! I seem to recall tipping over a table and getting kicked out of a night club, that certainly solved all my problems!"

James opened his mouth to speak, and then seemed to think better and closed it again.

Lily sped away.

It wasn't till she was several yards away that Lily realized Potter wasn't following her anymore. She heaved a sigh.

Lily wasn't quite sure what to make of that encounter honestly. Usually Potter just asked her out and fled, if he was going all stalkerish on her now she had even bigger issues. _Oh joy…_

And speaking of stalkers…

Lily looked up sharply at the sound of footsteps on the dank stone floor. There before her, stepping out from the shadows, was none other than Severus Snape.

Snape had been trying to talk to Lily alone ever since school started last week. So far, Lily had been able to avoid these encounters, but it looked as though today she wouldn't be so lucky.

Nevertheless, she had to at least try to get away. She had no desire whatsoever to talk to Snape. The aftershock of their last encounter the previous year still sent shivers coursing through her spine.

"Lily!" Snape called after her, speeding his step.

Lily ignored him and sped up in the opposite direction.

"Lily! We have to talk!"

Talk. Not something she wanted right now. Not with Potter, certainly not with her ex-best friend. She kept walking.

"Lily please turn around! Please, just turn around and look at me!"

It took every last ounce of willpower for Lily to keep walking without craning her neck around to see how far behind her Snape was, but she refused to give him that satisfaction.

Finally though, as she rounded the next corner, Lily spotted a sturdy looking wooden door. She increased her pace even more, if she could just reach that door… She could lock it on the other side and Snape would have to go around. That'd leave plenty of time for her to split.

She was getting closer and closer now, five feet from the door, four feet, three, two, one, her hand was on the knob she was turning the knob, pulling the door open…

It wouldn't budge. Lily whipped out her wand and muttered a hasty 'Alohamora' but to no avail. She was stuck.

She finally turned around to face Snape, he was closer than she'd hoped, probably only twenty feet away, and gaining.

Lily, panicking now, turned back to the door and desperately tried the knob again, this time, on a hunch, pushing the door outward instead of inwards. She heard a dull scudding sound. She pushed the door harder and heard more noise, then threw herself at the heavy portal, and pushed with all her might.

The door opened with a loud scraping noise. Then there was a loud crash and a scream. It wasn't Lily's.

She hurried through the doorway, and peered down a long winding staircase.

She'd thought today couldn't get much worse. But she was wrong. Dead wrong. Staring back at her was the unconscious body of James Potter.

* * *

_A/N: The last scene kind of got away from me there. I'd meant to make it a little bit more dramatic, but I'm just too tired now. And I have a Chem test tomorrow. Ugh... Anywho, review if you like. I'd love to hear what you think about Darien, because I'm debating about how big of a part I want him to take in this fic. I know he seems kind of cliched right now, but he really isn't. Or at least in my head he isn't. I'd love to hear what you guys think though..._


	7. Mind Games

__

A/N: Well, here's another chapter for you guys! It didn't take forever this time at least, but I guess I could have been faster. Oh well...

_Disclaimer: I forgot to do one of these last times. Again! But hey, guys what!? I just saw a flock of turkey's cross the street! No, I am not kidding. They're currently having a pow-wow in my driveway, one of my dad's clients almost ran them over. It was really strange. I've never seen a turkey cross the street before. I've never seen a chicken cross the street for that matter, but that's beside the point. Now would Jo be so imature as to find this extremely amusing? I'm guessing no._

* * *

**Last Time:**

_**There door open with a loud scraping noise. Then there was a loud crash and a scream. It wasn't Lily's.**_

_**She hurried through the doorway, and peered down a long winding staircase. **_

_**She'd thought today couldn't get much worse. But she was wrong. Dead wrong. Staring back at her was the unconscious body of James Potter.**_

/-o0o-/

"So," Said James, interrupting Lily's musing thoughts as he nudged his pawn two spaces ahead, "Are you going to apologize, or what?"

Lily didn't answer, instead opting to focus on the game. It had taken them nearly five minutes to figure out how to balance the game board on the hospital wing bed, after which they had set up all the pieces, and it had promptly fallen over. They tried again with similar results, until finally Lily decided to use her brain and bewitch the obstinate game board, which was now hovering about two inches above James' legs.

"Lily?" James pressed, "Yoo-hoo! Earth to Evans!"

He leaned over and waved a hand in front of her face, which finally forced her to look up at him. "What?" She asked irritably, glaring at him from the chair beside his bedside.

"You didn't answer my question." James stated stubbornly.

"I don't answer stupid questions." Lily fired back, smiling smugly as she directed her rook to attack one of Potter's bishops.

After a short scuffle, and a muffled crash, the bishop was reduced to rubble and the rook punched the air in triumph.

James pouted, "It wasn't a stupid question," He said sulkily, scanning the board for his next move.

"It was." Said Lily in a bored voice, also scanning the board, "If I were going to apologize I would have already done so. And since I haven't, that means I'm not going to."

"You don't know that." Said James, an evil glint in his eye. "Knight to D4," he said, watching in satisfaction as his knight took out the offending rook.

Lily also smiled, and promptly sent her own knight to attack Potter's. That one small space was certainly building up debris.

James scowled at Lily before returning his attention to the board before them.

"And just so you know," Interrupted Lily, "I know for a fact that I'll never apologize to you, no matter how many times I knock you out cold."

"Yeah, and why's that?" James taunted offhandedly.

"Because you deserve it." Was her simple answer.

"No one deserves getting six concussions in a year and a half."

"Some people do."

_Crash!_

"Dammit Lily." Potter muttered under his breath, scooping up the rumble from his fallen rook.

"I told you I was good at chess." Lily said smugly.

"You did." Potter agreed ruefully, searching the board and suppressing a smile when he found what he was looking for.

He urged his pawn forward one space.

"So," he said, searching for a topic that might divert Lily's attention for awhile, "Are you guys keeping tabs on how many times you've sent me to the hospital wing so far this year? You have a poll going or something? Because if you do, I want in."

Lily smiled despite herself. "You ever think that maybe there's a reason your brain keeps bouncing off the inside of your skull whenever you're around me?" She asked spitefully, "Maybe that's natures way of telling you something."

James shrugged. "I call it fatal attraction."

"Fate has nothing to do with it." Said Lily, sliding her bishop forward and taking out James' bishop.

James rearranged his features into a frown and nudged his pawn forward once more.

"You don't believe in fate?" He asked.

"I didn't say that," Said Lily, her attention clearly on the game and not their inane conversation.

"You implied it." James pushed.

"I guess I did." Said Lily vaguely.

"So you don't believe in fate?" Asked Potter, genuinely interested now.

Lily moved her knight two spaces forward and once to the left. "Not really. I find the concept a bit dated, honestly."

"How so?" Asked James, as his pawn stole across yet another space on the board.

"Well," Said Lily, still not looking up from the board, "The whole idea that everything happens for a reason is a little bit excessive, don't you think? I mean, I guess for some people it has its merits, but I find the theory that there's a higher being on this planet with nothing better to do than screw with people's lives a bit ridiculous. I mean sure, you fall off your bike and scrape your knee when you're a little kid, and that happened for a reason so you learn not to fool around on the road and don't get into pointless accidents when you start driving, that makes sense. But deciding that getting hit in the forehead with a dart is a gift from God, because you end up meeting your 'soul mate' or whatnot in the ER, is just absurd."

She moved her rook one space to the left.

"Hmmm…" Said James, mulling over her words, while sliding his bishop to the other side of the board. "I didn't really get the muggle references, but I guess you have a point. I take it you don't believe in soul mates?"

"No," said Lily flatly, "I don't."

"Why, because 'happily ever after' is an urban legend? Because people aren't meant to be with each other forever?"

Lily shrugged, and moved her rook so that it was right beside James' bishop. "Partly. Forever is another overrated concept anyway. It's just something people say because they're afraid to die."

James looked up at Lily in surprise, but she was still leaning over the game-board, "You think so?"

"I know so." Said Lily, marveling at how easy it was to talk to this infuriating kid once they'd started up an actual civil conversation. It was almost making her forget her guilt over landing Potter in the hospital wing again. Almost.

James moved his bishop to the side, dodging the rook. "Well then, if forever doesn't exist, then what does?" He asked, partly to continue to divert Lily's attention from his wandering pawn on the far side of the board, partly because he was genuinely curious.

"What do you mean?" Asked Lily, again, moving her rook to take out James bishop, which was conveniently cornered between a knight and two pawns. Next turn she'd have him.

"Well, if the universe isn't never ending, than what is it? A ticking time bomb, just waiting for the right time to explode and put an end to everything?"

James looked over at his bishop with what he hoped was a sullen façade upon his features. He nudged his pawn ahead. Just one space left to go…

"Well, no, and yes I guess. I don't know." Said Lily, "I don't know how the universe works James, I just don't think it's possible for two people to be together forever. Time will always change things, and people will always come and go. Fairy tales about 'forever and ever' will never change that."

She was surprised with herself for answering the question so personally. Potter may not know it, but her answer was very much in tandem with an intimate part of her psyche.

Lily directed her rook to the space James's bishop was on. He watched as the small marble soldier drew his sword and reduced the bishop to rubble. "I guess you're right Lily," He said, "Nothing lasts forever."

He pushed his pawn the last space forward. "But that doesn't mean forever doesn't exist. I mean," He said, looking directly at her bent forehead, "Just because you can't have something, doesn't make it any less real."

Something in his voice must have caused her head to rise. She looked at James, as he said his next words, "And just because it's impossible now, doesn't mean it'll always be. I mean, forever's an awful long time to change things. And stranger things have been known to happen. Oh yeah, by the way, checkmate."

Lily's mouth nearly dropped off the roof of her mouth. "Wa-What…" She stammered.

Potter smirked. "Like I said Lils, stranger things…"

Lily scanned the board, and found to her dismay that Potter was right. His pawn had made it all the way across the board without her knowledge, and now was pointed directly at her king. She had no pieces to block it, and the only way to move her king out of the way would put her straight in the path of Potter's Queen. _Damn…_

"Don't call me Lils." Said Lily, just because she had to say something, and was unwilling to concede defeat, especially to Potter.

"Good game yourself," Said Potter cheekily. "Really Lily, you're pretty good, usually I don't have to resort to mind games to win."

"Mind games!" Lily exclaimed, "So that was what this whole conversation was, just another game to you?!"

She was getting flustered now, and not just a little bit angry. James backpedaled a little bit, "Well, yeah, at first it was, but uhhh it was really an enlightening, and er- insightful conversation. Honestly Lils, by the time we were finished I really was interested, I mean your theories, they were, they were-"

"I said don't call me Lils!" Said Lily defiantly. "What is your problem, Potter? I come down here to be nice to you for awhile while you're stuck in a hospital bed, and you take that opportunity to play mind games with me, huh? Great way to show gratitude."

"Lily…" James whined, because Lily was packing up the game board now and looked about ready to leave, "I'm sorry ok, it was just a game. I'm a competitive person, I like to win. I wasn't playing mind games, I was just strategizing, honestly."

When Lily didn't reply and only continued to clear off the debris from the game board, James grew more frustrated himself, "Hey, it's not like you came here out of the good of your own heart anyways, you came here to feel better about yourself because you feel guilty about giving me a concussion and you're too damn stubborn to admit it. So _sorry_ if I didn't stroke your precious ego for gracing me with your prescience, Your Highness. Sometimes, the world doesn't work out like a fairy tale."

"Don't I know it." Said Lily, "If it did, you would have been eaten by a dragon a long time ago."

James would have chuckled, but she was dead serious.

"See you 'round Potter." She said flatly, and with a final flick of her wand and a quick turn of the heel, the chessboard was packing itself back up in the closet, and Lily was gone.

/-o0o-/

Jenna came downstairs early the next day to find her best friend sitting in an armchair by the fire, scribbling on a spare bit of parchment with such vehemence that it looked as though her quill might explode. In fact, she was sloshing quite a lot of excess ink around on the page, even to the extent that a few stray droplets had found their way onto her face. She seemed too intent on her parchment to notice.

Yawning, Jenna strode over to join her, "…Morning Lils…" Jenna greeted sleepily, slumping into an armchair opposite Lily's.

"Don't cal me Lils." Said Lily sharply, without looking up.

"Huh?"

Lily glanced up and saw her friend blinking at her in confusion. "Sorry, not you. I er- just got confused for a second there…"

Jenna was too tired to do more than shrug and mutter, "Kay."

They sat in silence for a while, Jenna staring at the wall as she slowly began to wake, and Lily continuing to splay ink in such a way that would make even Mt. Vesuvius cringe.

"So," Jenna said finally, piercing the silence and still suppressing a yawn, "What's up with the whole writing frenzy all of a sudden? What did that poor parchment ever do to you?"

Lily didn't look up. "Hmmm?"

"You're stabbing the thing with your quill so hard it's leaving holes Lils…" Jenna said gently, "The poor parchment looks like it's bleeding ink for Merlins sake. And unless you caught dragon pox overnight, your face is covered in ink splatters and you don't even seem to have noticed. So what's wrong? And don't even try to pretend you're ok, because I know you aren't. Quit massacring the parchment and talk to me."

Sighing heavily, though it was mostly an act, Lily dropped her quill and turned to face Jenna. "My face is really covered in ink splatters?" She asked sadly.

Jenna nodded sympathetically. "It's ok, I'll fix them. Just hold still a second."

Lily did as told, and Jenna pulled out her wand and lazily flicked it towards Lily's face. Instantly, the ink droplets disappeared. Jenna really was remarkable at charms work.

"Thanks." Lily muttered, glancing back at her parchment.

"What were you writing anyways?" Jenna asked, attempting to snatch the parchment up.

Lily just shook her head and shoved the parchment in her pocket. "None of your business." She said, though not unkindly.

Jenna shrugged. "Alright, fair enough. But seriously, are you ok? You never wake up this early without a good reason."

"I didn't go to sleep." Lily replied impassively.

Jenna glanced back at her friend. Now that she peered more closely, she could just make out the faintest trace of dark circles under her eyes. "Lily…" She said concernedly, "You've been up all night? What's wrong? C'mon, spill. I'm your friend. You're supposed to wake me up and keep me up half the night rambling about your problems when you can't sleep. That's just what friends do."

Lily smiled slightly. "It's nothing Jen, really. Just, you know, I kind of knocked Potter down a flight of stairs, he got a concussion…Wait, you knew about that?!"

Jenna promptly stopped nodding. "Yeah, well, you know, it's Hogwarts. News travels faster than wildfires 'round here."

Lily sighed, "Whatever. Anyways, I felt bad about it, so I went to visit him. And then we started talking, and I don't know, I was actually kind of enjoying it. It was confusing, you know? Because he was surprisingly easy to talk to, and we were having an interesting conversation about fate and soulmates and forever and stuff-"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Interjected Jenna, unable to stop herself, "You talked about what? With Potter?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we talked about fate and destiny and moonbeams and all that crap, get over it. What else would we talk about? 'Hey Lily, sent anyone to the hospital wing lately?' 'Why yes, as a matter of fact, you.' 'Oh how lovely.' 'Yeah, isn't it just great that I'm a human wrecking ball capable of bashing someone's brain against a floor so many times he sustains permanent brain damage?'" She was getting more and more worked up the more she talked, and talking faster and louder as a result. Jenna could have sworn she was forgetting to breathe, "…Isn't it wonderful that I get reminded of the fact that I almost _killed_ him nearly every day, just because he won't get rid of that damn scar? Isn't it fine that just because he doesn't want to forget, I have to relive that stupid night every time I see his retarded face! Isn't that just dandy? Happy skippy-doo, no one come near Lily, she'll bash your head into the nearest suit of armor guaranteed. And then when she _tries _to make up for it, you'll just cast her to the wolves and play stupid mind games on her, just because you're too damn determined to win a friggin chess game. No matter that she's actually being genuine with you for once, the one thing you swore you always wanted, winning a pointless game is always far more important! That's all it ever is with boys, you know? Ooooh shiny snitch! Must catch snitch, must win game! They're bloody Neanderthals! I swear to Merlin, evolution skipped over their entire gender. No wonder I haven't irreparably damaged his brain by now, it's probably still the size of a friggin walnut! Ugh! I swear to Merlin Jenna, I swear to Merlin…"

Jenna was looking at Lily with an expression that clearly permeated her complete and utter confusion. Her head was cocked slightly to the side, and her eyebrows had risen so far they threatened to fly off her face. Clearly though, as Lily had just finished her rant, and here Jenna was, the best friend, trying to support her friend in need, she was expected to say _something. _So, taking a deep breath, she spoke with all the wisdom of someone who was still far too sleepy to figure out a puzzler like this, "Uh-huh…"

Lily sighed loudly, "I know, you probably think I'm insane. Maybe I am. I don't know what got into me back there. I should know by now that Potter's not capable of sustaining an intellectual conversation unless he has an ulterior motive. It's probably my own fault. But Merlin, do I want to hurt someone right now! Honestly, that kid better watch his back when he gets out of the hospital wing, unless he wants to make a return trip in the near future."

"Mmmm-hmmm…" Said Jenna, nodding stupidly.

"And you know, aren't I supposed to be the smart one? I beat Potter in practically every single class. Well, except transfiguration, but that's just because all the Marauders are freakishly good in that subject, even Peter, which is certainly saying something. He's all brawn and no brains, right? So why was _he _the one who was playing mind games? That should have been me. I should have been doing everything possible to win. Dammit, _I_ should have won. Not that pathetic excuse for a primate!"

Jenna had only heard a select few words in Lily's latest monologue. "Potter…? Peter…? Brawn…? Primate…?" Se asked, getting more and more confused by the moment.

"You know what?" Lily said suddenly, not bothering to wait for an answer to her rhetorical question before plunging on, "I betcha that's it! I'm not upset about the mind games, I mean that's just Potter right? I already knew he was a heartless git, that's no surprise. No, what's bothering me is that the idiot beat me! It's my pride that's the issue! That's it! That's what I've got to do! I just have to challenge him to a rematch, and win this time! And this time he won't have his mind games to hide behind, because I already know about that trick! This'll be easy as- easy as- well I don't know, but easy as something ridiculously simple! Thanks Jen!"

"Huh?" Jenna said blankly as Lily suddenly leapt from her seat and hugged her, "Er- ahh sure, your welcome?"

"You're the best Jenna!" Lily called, as she hurried up to her dorm, "Don't know what I'd do without you!"

"No problem," muttered Jenna, shaking her head dazedly. _Note to self:_ _Don't ever ask Lily to explain her problems to you at five in the morning again. Ever. _

/-o0o-/

When James left the hospital wing the next day, he thought he'd have to search high and low to find Lily and apologize too her. As it turns out though, he was quite mistaken.

"Rematch." Said Lily, firmly grabbing his arm and proceeding to drag him into a secluded corner of the common room, only seconds after he'd stepped through the portrait hole, "Now."

James could do nothing but allow himself to be dragged into the corner and sat down in front of an already set chess set.

Lily sat down across from him. He raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. She sent him an icy glare and nudged her first pawn forward. And so, the game began.

For the first few turns they played in silence. James was quite confused as to why Lily'd want to play _another _game after storming off from the last one, but tactfully chose to say nothing for the time being. Lily was just too intent on beating him to bother with something as mundane as talking.

Pawns slowly inched forward, knights smashed rooks, rooks trampled bishops to smithereens. The game board collected more and more rubble the longer the game went on, and neither bothered to clear the debris.

It was rather cathartic, when James thought about it. Like fate had had a hand in putting them together tonight, so they could both vent their frustration with each other through the unfortunate little chess pieces.

As he mulled over his next move, James drummed his fingers absentmindedly on the table. Lily caught on to this and sent him a warning glare. James noticed, but didn't cease his tapping. Lily was actually quite cute when she was annoyed, and even her fierce scowl could do nothing to diminish the fact.

"Cut. It. Out." She said, breaking the silence in a strained voice about five minutes later.

James stopped tapping his fingers and looked up with what he hoped was an innocent expression, "Cut what out?" he asked politely, just because he knew it would infuriate her further.

"Tapping your fingers. It's maddening." She said, stressing each syllable.

"Maddening?" James asked.

"Yes Maddening. As in, I'm about five seconds away of hexing your fingers off if you don't stop tapping them on the tabletop. It also wouldn't hurt to move your hand out from under that annoyingly bright lamp."

James eyebrows knit together in genuine confusion. "What's wrong with the lamp?"

Lily bit her lip. "Nothing. Forget I said it."

"Then what-"

"Forget it Potter!" Lily said, with a vehemence that surprised even her.

"Sheesh, alright Evans…" Said James warily, casting his eyes back towards the game board.

The game commenced. Potter didn't move his hand.

Every so often, James would catch Lily sneaking glances at his outstretched arm, illuminated by the light of the so-called 'annoyingly-bright' lamp. She'd do it when he was scanning the board for his next move, and thought he wasn't watching her. At first, this utterly perplexed him. However, the more he thought about it, the more the pieces seemed to fit together. His scar was on that hand, and though not easily visible, he had no doubt Lily could just make it out under the fierce glow of the lamp. And of course she wouldn't want him to see her do it, because that would mean admitting that she actually felt _guilty_ about it. Which, regardless of her actual feelings, was something Lily would simply never do.

Which was why of course, James didn't bother to move his hand. If Lily couldn't be bothered to apologize to him, he certainly wasn't going to make things any easier on her. That, and the fact that all her stray glances at him were kind of cute, in a way. He could almost imagine she were looking at him for the same reasons most girls did; for his looks and apparent charm, and not for a half-inch scar residing somewhere just above his right thumb.

"So," Said Lily suddenly, about halfway through the game as she took out Potters second knight with a smug grin, "When we were playing mind games yesterday, you never told me what you thought about fate yourself."

Potter inwardly cringed at the mention of 'mind games'. He had regretted the words as soon as they'd left his mouth. His conversations with Lily were few and far between, and they were nothing whatsoever resembling games. They were far to precious to waste on frivolous small talk and mind tricks and the like. Sure, he'd taken things a bit too far on a competitive level during their last game, but Lily had as well. They were both extremely competitive people. Put them together, and they'd make quite a potent team in James' opinion, but against each other? It was like salt and vinegar. They just didn't mix. And anyhow, Lily wouldn't have been angry with the so-called 'mind games' if they hadn't worked and she'd still won. She was just sore from losing, that's all.

"Listen," Said James, deciding now was as good a time as ever to explain these things to her, "About that. I-"

Lily cut him off with a flippant wave of her hand, "Honestly Potter, I'm really not in the mood for your pathetic excuses. I'm over that anyways. I'm just, I don't know, kind of curious as to what you think about fate and soul mates and forever and everything. I got to ramble on about my opinions, but you never got to share yours."

James looked up at Lily's face, searching for some kind of trick, or a catch or something. He saw nothing. Her face was as blank and passive as one of those stoic looking muggle card players on the pelivison. Maybe she really did, for some weird reason, actually care what he had to say. Or maybe this was just some elaborate trick on her part to get back at him. Either way, Potter was willing to hazard a response to find out.

"I don't know what I think, to be honest."

Lily snorted, "Wow, that was enlightening."

James gritted his teeth at her sarcastic comment. For the girl he'd supposedly been mooning over for years, she certainly was infuriating when she wanted to be. "I wasn't finished," He said.

"Oh, well excuse me for interrupting you Socrates, carry on with your brilliant tangent."

"Hey! You're the one who asked me in the first place! Quit bashing me unless you want me to shut up!"

"Maybe I do want you to shut up."

"Then why ask the question in the first place?"

"I never asked you anything, I simply implied-"

"Oh, you _implied_ it. Well that makes a big difference!"

"It really does."

"It doesn't."

"It does too."

"Does not."

"Does too."

"Does not."

"Does too." Lily spat.

"Does not." Potter countered vehemently.

Lily crossed her fingers under the table for luck, as she attempted an old childhood trick that had worked on Petunia for as long as she remembered. Though Potter obviously wasn't as stupid as her idiot sister, she thought it still had a fairly good chance of working.

"Does not." She said, reiterating Potter's line.

"Does too!" Said Potter, completing the pattern. Then, upon realizing his error, "Oh shit…"

Lily laughed. "Haha! I win."

James scowled.

"Knight to E6." Lily said, grinning like a Cheshire cat, "Oh yeah, Checkmate."

James scowl deepened.

He scanned the board to find that Lily was right. However, something was still niggling at the back of his mind…

"Hey, you cheated!" He spit out suddenly, as he finally realized what had happened.

"No I didn't." Lily said, the smile not dissipating by any means, but rather seeming to grow.

"You did!" Exclaimed James, "It was my turn after our little argument, but you went instead! I would have blocked you, and my bishop would have, hey wait- what happened to my bishop? It moved to the other side of the board! You moved it!"

Lily put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. "No James, you did."

"No I didn't! It's on D2! I never said- Oh…" He said, realization dawning.

"You tricked me!" James said, so loudly that several heads in the vicinity turned to look at them with perplexed faces. "And I said 'does too', not D2. That shouldn't even count! I want a re-do!"

Lily just shook her head, that smug smirk still upon her features. Suddenly, James found her significantly less attractive. "Sorry James. I just thought you might like a taste of your own medicine. Oh, and while you're at it, you might want to get that Bishop of yours' ears checked out."

And so, smirking shamelessly at the perceived brilliance of her own joke. Lily stood up and took her leave.

James sat in the corner, still fuming.

It was then that he noticed the small, folded scrap of parchment on the edge of Lily's chair. It seemed to be beckoning for him to pick it up and read it.

Which, of course, is exactly what he did. At first, Potters face was alight with confusion as he struggled to make sense of the mercilessly ink splattered paper. Then however, comprehension began to dawn.

And slowly, a malicious grin lit up his features.

* * *

_A/N: Dun Dun Dun... Cliffhanger... Not really, but whatever. Reviews are love, I'll update in 'bout a week. Yadda Yadda Yadda. And there's a friggin flock of turkeys in my driveway! Sorry guys, but I gotta go. My dog looks about ready to have an aneurism..._


	8. AN

_One day I vowed to never write one of these stupid things, and yet, here we are. Yes, I hate authors notes as well as the next person, I just felt I had to say a few things. _

_First off, I'm sorry its been so long since my last update. While two weeks is by no means a record, I really did want to make an effort to update sooner lately so I feel bad about that. It's just been a busy time for me. I won't get into excuses. You wouldn't want to hear those. _

_At any rate, I'm going on vacation tomorrow and I won't be back for another week, so unfortunately, that's the minimum you're going to have to wait for another update. I'm sorry. I wanted to get it done by today, I really did, but that just wasn't a possibility._

_On a side note,_ (_here's the part where I shamelessly promote myself) if you want to read something else of mine while you wait I'm also in the process of writing another LJ fic, called Trust Me. I know it's a bit pretentious of me to start a new fic, even while I can barely manage regular updates of this one, but the idea just wouldn't leave me, so I had to write it down. I have a stubborn muse, that is, when my muse decides to show up in the first place. On top of that, I'm also working on two one shots. One of them will be Neville/Luna and entitled Gum Wrappers (Or at least I think so, the title's kinda pending) and the other one is Katie/Oliver and I don't really have a title yet. So, hopefully by the end of the month I'll be posting a lot more, I plan to at least. I know you guys probably want to murder me right about now, so I'll wrap it up._

_Again, so sorry this chapter is taking so long. Don't review this authors note. I'm going to replace it with the next chapter when I update. If you want to complain to me, feel free to use PM. _


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